Fifa World Cup merchandise: good and bad

[Kellanved]

This didn't work:
Unpopular World Cup Mascot Wrecks German Toy Firm
http://www.spiegel.de/img/0,1020,627156,00.jpg

A German stuffed toy manufacturer that has exclusive rights to produce the official World Cup mascot -- Goleo VI, a shaggy-maned lion in a football shirt -- has filed for insolvency because no one wants to buy it.

Nici AG said this week it was in financial trouble and a court in the southern German city of Coburg confirmed on Tuesday that the firm had filed for insolvency. "We're having problems with the fact that "Goleo" hasn't been a success," the company's marketing director Uwe Klimach told the dpa news agency. "The company is in a serious financial situation."

"The loveable lion", as football's world governing body Fifa describes it, has had a mixed response since he was introduced in late 2004. Designed by Jim Henson Company, which made the Muppets and Sesame Street characters, the clumsy looking figure has more than a fleeting resemblance to Big Bird. It has also been ridiculed for lacking football shorts.
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This did:

Bringing the World Cup into the Bedroom
http://www.spiegel.de/img/0,1020,626933,00.jpg

Erotic retailer Beate Uhse, whose brand name is as well known in Germany as Mercedes or Volkswagen, hopes its new range of products will attract World Cup tourists for whom the very German sight of sex shops prominently located in city centers may be a novelty.

"A lot of tourists only associate sex shops with red light districts back home. Here they'll come across such stores right in the city center. People are a lot more open these days and we think many will visit our stores just for souvenirs," said Beate Uhse spokeswoman Assia Tschernookoff.

The company has brought out a range of six "sporty vibrators" emblazoned with descriptions including "Team Captain" and "Home Player." Bizarrely, they do indeed look "sporty" -- so much so that one can imagine them going for a jog if left alone.

Other products include tight-fitting soccer jerseys for women, an "Erotic Energy Drink" and string tangas in the colors of Germany, Italy or Brazil which, according to the company, "guarantees an erotic home game that is a lot more exciting than any football tournament."
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What tells us that? :evilgrin: