Leeuwenhosen

Leeuwenhosen are orange-colored, lion-tailed overalls distributed by the Bavaria Brewery, a popular Dutch beer brewery, during the 2006 FIFA World Cup. The concept was realized by Peer Swinkels, the chairman of Bavaria cite web|url=http://football.guardian.co.uk/worldcup2006/story/0,,1800885,00.html|title=The new World Cup rule: take off your trousers, they're offending our sponsor|publisher=The Guardian] . The leeuwenhosen may have been inspired by the coincidence that the Dutch team's icon is a lion, as is the 2006 FIFA World Cup mascot Goleo VI. The word "leeuwenhosen" is a mix of the Dutch word for "lions" and the German word for "pants," in the same style as the German article of clothing called lederhosen, meaning "leather pants."

Controversy

During the 2006 FIFA World Cup Bavaria distributed orange Leeuwenhosen (orange being the Dutch national colour, representing the royal House of Orange) with their company logo in cases of beer in the Netherlands in support of the Dutch national football team. The problem with this was that Bavaria was not an official sponsor of the World Cup; Budweiser was the official beer sponsor. During the 16 June 2006 match between the Dutch team and the Ivory Coast team, spectators wearing Bavaria-branded Leeuwenhosen were ordered to disrobe by officials in Stuttgart, and many of these Dutch supporters watched the game in their underpants . FIFA reportedly anticipated this act of "ambush marketing" and instructed officials to distribute orange shorts to fans who required them after removing the Leeuwenhosen [cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/5104252.stm|title=Dutch fans given shorts for match|publisher=BBC News] .

The Leeuwenhosen are no longer distributed by Bavaria, and they are now regarded as a collector's item by fans of the 2006 World Cup and breweriana collectors.

References