Brazilian football body in row with Hyundai over World Cup advert

Brazil’s football federation says an advertising campaign by Hyundai that plays on the nation’s chances of winning a sixth World Cup infringes its IP rights.

The Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) has complained about the advert because Hyundai is not an official sponsorship partner of the federation.

South-Korea based Hyundai is an official partner of FIFA, the World Cup governing body, but the CBF’s partner is German manufacturer Volkswagen.

Hyundai is allowed to market its advertising around the tournament but the CBF claims it cannot refer to Brazil’s national team.

The advert is a play on the Portuguese word “hexa,” meaning “sixth,” – and promises to change the warranty on models sold between January 1 and July 13 from five years to six if Brazil, the host nation, wins the competition for a sixth time.

The advert, which shows yellow shirts similar to Brazil’s and has the words Hexagarantia above images of cars, remains on the company’s YouTube channel and there is still a live website promoting the offer.

Paulo Parente Marques Mendes, partner at law firm Di Blasi Parente & Associados in Rio de Janeiro, said Hyundai’s promotion fell into a “grey area.”

“Hyundai is an official sponsor of FIFA’s World Cup and is entitled to make commercial promotions related to FIFA’s event,” Mendes said.

“Keeping in mind that the World Cup will happen in Brazil and that the promotion is aimed at Brazilian consumers, it is unclear whether the use of t-shirts similar – but not identical – to the Brazilian football team’s official uniform, as well as the mention of a possible sixth victory in the championship, is in fact an infringement of CBF’s rights.”

The CBF has been contacted for comment but its spokesman was quoted by the Bloomberg news agency as saying it was a “sensitive” point.

“Our lawyer went directly to Hyundai and told them they are using our property,” Rodrigo Paiva said.

Mendes added:  “CBF has prevailed in many infringement lawsuits in the past; yet, in all of those cases, as far as it has come to my knowledge, defendants used its official symbols (including the emblem or the five stars) or imitations thereof.

“As Hyundai is apparently not using any of those official symbols in its commercial promotion, it would be unclear whether the CBF would also prevail in this case if it files a lawsuit.”

Hyundai declined to comment. Volkswagen was unavailable for comment.