What got people talking this week — 23 July
Originally published on O2’s Workplace on 23 July
1. The women’s handball team in Norway have been fined €1,500 for refusing to wear regulation skimpy bikini bottoms at the European Beach Handball Championships and for wearing Lycra shorts instead (they did ask first, but their request was met with a flat no).
The men’s team wear vests and shorts (not Speedos) so why do these crucial aerodynamics of the uniform not matter for them?!
The Norwegian sports minister Abid Raja described the penalty as “completely ridiculous” and the Norwegian Handball Federation praised the players for trying to change attitudes, but the European Handball Federation officials said it was a case of “improper clothing”
In contrast, Team GB Paralympic long jumper Olivia Breen was told her briefs were “too short and inappropriate” despite her wearing them for competitions for years.
Surely sportspeople should be able to play in the clothes they are comfortable with as long as it’s not giving them an unfair advantage and consistent if they’re in a team?
2. Inspirational women in sport
- Alex Scott has become the first English-speaking female broadcaster to feature in FIFA and announced that she will certainly not be the last. “I know this is just the start of stronger female footballing representation from EA Sports FIFA and the football community as a whole
- Four leading female Olympians are looking to make history. No British woman has ever won gold medals at three separate Olympics yet cyclist Laura Kenny, taekwondo’s Jade Jones, rower Helen Glover and equestrian star Charlotte Dujardin all have the chance to achieve that feat after successes in London and Rio. There’s also a record number of mothers taking part in the Tokyo Olympics with six including Naomi Folkard, Helen Glover and Charley Davison
- Dina Asher-Smith wowed on the front cover of Vogue and has called for more realistic female role models in sport — not just people “holding a bouquet of flowers or smiling and being polite.”
- Nike have revealed more on their plans to make sports accessible for all and how the brand’s elite athletes including Naomi Osaka and Dina Asher-Smith are driving their plans
3. Team GB is offering NFT collectables for Olympics fans as “an alternative way to connect with the team — without the need to fly halfway around the world”
Custom creations include ‘tokenised’ digital wall paintings created by Team GB artist Ben Mosley, bundled with a variety of physical and experiential offerings — each authenticated with a unique cryptographic key.
Fans can also participate by joining the Team GB Medal Moments Studio in Carnaby Street to be featured in a unique mural that will be digitised, minted and auctioned off.
To learn more about NFTs, check out this handy article.
4. Amazon Prime Gaming have chosen a new sponsorship and it’s Stevenage FC!
The EFL League Two team has signed a two-year shirt sponsorship deal with Prime Gaming, now that Burger King’s has come to an end.
Burger King ran “The Stevenage Challenge”, offering food prizes to those who played as Stevenage in FIFA 20 and uploaded videos of themselves completing challenges.
Stevenage then became the most-played team in FIFA’s career mode, with 25,000 goals scored in Stevenage kits shared online, by the likes of Messi and Salah!
Stevenage also became the most-used FIFA team on Amazon-owned streaming platform Twitch, which may explain Amazon’s decision. Prime Gaming is a feature included in the Amazon Prime subscription service, offering users in-game loot, games and a free subscription on Twitch.
Oh, and on top of all this, Stevenage last year launched its own esports platform. Seems like a great fit!
Bonus
- National baby trials for the Olympics results in some funny cute content
- As spectators are now banned from events, athletes start to test positive to COVID-19 and just days after Japan declared a fourth state of emergency in Tokyo, Toyota has pulled its TV ads and stopped exec sponsors attending the Olympics as a last-minute bit of brand control. 68% of Japanese people doubt the IOC can control the spread of infection.
- Disney World has pulled its classic ‘boys and girls’ greeting to be inclusive
- Tiffany & Co’s new campaign causes controversy by insulting its current customers!
- Starling Bank become first brand to use electric car charging stations as a tactical media buy
- Lancashire Police’s guide to youth language is leaked on Twitter
- Wedding planning website Hitched marked Freedom Day with the unveiling of an upcycled wedding dress fashioned from 1,500 discarded face masks.
- Corona has launched the world’s first-ever ‘plastic fishing’ tournament — paying fishermen in Mexico to retrieve plastic waste from the ocean.
- Squarespace’s new campaign turns Snow White and Dracula into savvy entrepreneurs
- Pornhub hosts classic nude tours in highbrow art collection collab
Hope you enjoyed this week’s round up, see you next time! #FourThingsOnFriday
