Subscribe & Follow

Advertise your job vacancies

Giant jersey to go on auction

12 Jul 2010

The giant Bafana Bafana jersey was last week unveiled at the Cape Town Stadium to mark the last Football Friday by adidas, an official sponsor of the 2010 FIFA World Cup. The jersey bears signatures and messages of support from hundreds of thousands fans and was the central tool in the Unite Mzansi Unite (UMU) campaign will be auctioned on eBay.

click to enlarge

The jersey, which is 60m by 48m big, toured South Africa over seven months:

covering a distance of 27 000km ,
visiting more than 300 towns and villages
passing through all nine provinces of South Africa
and all the host cities

An overwhelming welcome along the way

"We decided to unveil the giant jersey in one of the World Cup venues in order to mark the last Football Friday and to say thank you to all South Africans for uniting behind the World Cup and Bafana Bafana. We have certainly showed the world how united we are in our purpose to deliver a spectacular event and the final on Sunday will be a real cherry on top," says Zobuzwe Ngobese, the PR manager at adidas South Africa.

Campaign expansion

The UMU campaign extended to visitors, as international football fans were introduced to the yellow headband, known as the UMU a month before the tournament. This item has been sold globally at retail stores and all proceeds from the sales go towards 46664 - a Nelson Mandela charity organisation.

Fans from South Africa and rest of the world have been wearing these yellow headbands at World Cup matches, which created a sea of yellow at the stadiums, particularly when South Africa was playing. Some players also wore the headbands on the field of play to show their support for charity.

Ordinary South Africans on the streets were equally touched by the campaign when the giant jersey reached their towns and villages while other locals offered to support UMU by showcasing their talents through song, dance and performances during truck stops in their areas.

eBay auction

"As the world's leading football brand, it was very important for us to leave a legacy after the campaign had finished. We have decided to select 11 signatures from prominent South Africans who signed the jersey and we will have pieces of their signatures framed for people to purchase on eBay, in order to raise funds and awareness for the great work the Nelson Mandela 46664 charity is doing," adds Ngobese.