"The cheapest flesh in the market is the black one": body, soccer and advertising Puma uniforms in the 2010 soccer world cup

Abstract

Puma, a company of sport gears, has been inserting black soccer players in its advertising campaigns as a strategy to get closer to the African continent. Near to bankruptcy at the 90' beginning, the company has succeeded in bringing to the market products with more daring design, linking fashion and sports. One of its latest initiatives was to seek inspiration in the exotic profile of African people to produce pieces that can be used in all occasions not only for sports. How African's bodies have been exposed in its adverting campaigns? The objective of this study was to analyze an specific issue related to some strategies adopted in Puma advertising campaigns launched during 2010 Soccer World Cup in South Africa: the layout of the uniforms offered for three African´s teams - Cameroon, Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana. In order to do it, we have established a comparison with the models of shirts fabricated by the company to other national teams (Switzerland, Uruguay and Italy), taking into account the fact that this sort of merchandising may increase or not some stereotypes that are usually associated with black people in advertising campaigns.