Checkers flirts close to sponsorship offside line with Bok rugby-related ad campaigns

The Springboks have made rugby cool. The success of the national team has drawn fans from all walks of life and as a result, there is a greater desire from companies to associate with rugby, even unofficially.

The Springbok brand is also set to go more global when the multibillion-rand private equity deal between the South African Rugby Union (Saru) and the American-based Ackerley Sports Group (ASG) is concluded next month.

Saru made R426-million in sponsorship revenue in 2023, which translated to nearly 30% of its total R1.44-billion income. The long-term plan is to grow that income at a time when the Boks are on top of the world.

It doesn’t take a financial genius to figure out that sponsorship revenue is a vital part of sustaining the professional game in the country. Almost all of Saru’s revenue is ploughed back to its unions, sustaining the sport from junior level, through to the Springboks.

This is why there is growing discontent that a big corporate brand such as Shoprite/Checkers has run a series of rugby-related adverts and campaigns for more than a year that create a strong impression of being a Springbok partner.

They are not.

A snap poll conducted by Maverick Sports in its newsletter on 16 September asked readers if they thought Checkers Sixty 60 (the company’s home delivery service) was a rugby sponsor. It was a simple “yes” or “no”.

There were 824 responses with 447 answering “yes” and 377 saying “no”. To emphasise, this was a snap poll, but nevertheless, the results were illuminating.

A little more than 54% of respondents believe Checkers Sixty 60 is a Springbok partner. That’s a high number and certainly too high to believe that it’s purely coincidental.

Checkers’ rugby-related advertising campaign creates the impression that the company is officially aligned with Saru and the Boks.

It has run for more than a year. During Rugby World Cup 2023, Checkers Sixty 60 put up branding in parts of Paris to show “support” for the Boks.

The idea appears to have started with the Boks’ alternate “hyper jade” kit, which fans likened to a Checkers bag. It debuted in mid-2023 and Checkers’ marketing team was quick to pounce on the concept.

These ads and gestures create the illusion of “support”. Checkers does not however, extend that “support” in monetary terms to rugby directly through any form of sponsorship.  

To be clear, the Shoprite Group, via the Checkers brand, is not doing anything illegal. And depending on your viewpoint, it has either cleverly, or cynically, positioned the brand alongside rugby.

Some might say that Checkers is guilty of “passing off”. Legally speaking, one of the elements of “passing off” is when a campaign leads consumers to believe that the goods or services are associated with another organisation/brand.

Rugby vehicle

It is obvious Checkers is using rugby as a vehicle to market its brand. There is no law against that.

Daily Maverick put some direct questions around this theme to Checkers, asking very pointedly about the company’s leveraging of rugby and the Boks to promote its brand, and whether it was intentional or coincidental.

It took almost two weeks for a response and none of the questions were addressed in its emailed reply.

“We are always looking to explore new and creative strategic partnerships that make sense for our business and the customers we serve,” a statement, attributed to no specific person, read.

“National rugby games – broadcast live on television – offer a rare opportunity for Checkers to engage the majority of its target market in a relevant way by aligning its advertising to the programming it has purchased.

“Similarly, Checkers also broadcasts adverts about its premium private label range Forage & Feast during popular food shows, ensuring it resonates with the right viewers at the right time.

“Checkers has for some time now championed the fact that South Africans are ‘better together’ and strives to facilitate opportunities for people to come together.”

Buying advertising time around rugby games on television is open to any company with the means, as a way to sell goods. It’s hardly a statement of support for rugby and the Boks.

If the phrase “better together” sounds familiar, it’s because the Boks used the slogan “stronger together” during last year’s successful RWC 2023 campaign.

Declined to partner

Saru has approached Checkers formally to partner with it and pay a tiny percentage of the R4.1-billion it spent in marketing last year, on the Boks and rugby in general.

Saru sources confirmed that Checkers declined to even meet about the possibility.

Recently, it ran a series of adverts for the Checkers Sixty 60 brand, creating a strong link with the Boks.

One advert, featuring UFC world champion Dricus du Plessis and comedian Jason Goliath wearing green and gold shirts, was close to the bone.

Dricus tells viewers “this is how you support the champs” before they both board an open-top bus, massively reminiscent of the Boks’ Rugby World Cup ticker-tape parades, to the stadium. 

https://www.tiktok.com/@checkers_sixty60/video/7411821728537627909?_r=1&_t=8pdM281UGbl

Another Checkers Sixty 60 advert shows an injured rugby player on the field, in green and gold, receiving medical attention before regular South Africans come out to help in various ways.

https://www.tiktok.com/@checkers_sa/video/7416709860403858694

These ads give the impression of support for the Boks. Yet they could be viewed cynically. There is an illusion of a partnership, but look closely and no Bok players, no Bok emblems and no other Saru-owned intellectual property is used.

Others

At the recent Test between the Boks and All Blacks at Ellis Park, the stands were awash with fans in green and gold retro rugby jerseys created by the company Old School. They closely resemble the Springbok jersey. Old School is not an official sponsor and carefully don’t use the Springbok logo.

There is no patent Saru can take out on colours. According to a source, Old School sold 30,000 “Bok” jerseys during last year’s Rugby World Cup when Saru’s official partner Nike could not supply enough official merchandise to stores.

Read more: Competition Commission probes Nike after retailers’ replica Bok jersey scrum

It has sold thousands more since.

But Saru and Old School have officially met and are working on a possible partnership.

Nando’s regularly does once-off ads celebrating Bok success with cleverly worded artwork, but they are more celebratory in tone and seldom run for a day or more.

A Nando's ad referring to the Springboks’ success during a match. (Photo: Supplied)

The Courier Guy did an amusing spoof of the Bok RWC 2023 documentary Chasing the Sun 2, with an ad called “Chasing the Sunset”.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pWYPVbW7vk8

It was also sailing close to the wind, but was a once-off and not a pointed campaign lasting more than a year.

Diluting value

In an increasingly tough advertising and sponsorship market, the actions of some companies that leverage the Boks’ success without making a direct contribution to rugby, could have consequences.

Why would companies such as MTN and FNB, among others, who pay tens of millions to sponsor the Springboks continue, if they could come up with edgy marketing campaigns and not pay a cent?

Companies such as MTN spend tens of millions annually to sponsor the Springboks. (Photo: Anton Geyser / Gallo Images)

Some might argue that campaigns such as the Checkers’ Sixty 60 brand are clever and sassy. Possibly. But they are also potentially devastating as they dilute the value of the brand for sponsors who do pay.

During RWC 2023, Saru warned that it would take legal action against companies that ambush its intellectual property (IP) rights after securing a court order restraining Eskort from continuing a marketing campaign using the Springboks brand and IP.

That was a very direct infringement because the Boks’ logo was used without permission. Checkers and Old School do not use any Saru IP, only an impression of it.

In the build-up to the Boks’ Rugby Championship decider against Argentina in Nelspruit this weekend, the Checkers store in the Riverside Mall overstepped the line.

An in-store display (pictured below), used the Bok logo and images. By Wednesday it had been removed with the explanation that it was the store manager’s own initiative and not an official Checkers marketing decision that led to the error.

A rugby-themed display inside a Checkers store in Nelspruit this week. It was removed. (Photo: Supplied)

That may be so, but it does beg the question of whether the store manager was also under the impression that Checkers is an official Bok sponsor? Just as 54% of DM’s survey respondents are…

“We will do what we have to do to protect our rights and those of our highly valued partners, who are being shamelessly ambushed right now,” Saru chief executive Rian Oberholzer said at the time of the Eskort court outcome.

“We cannot allow companies to flagrantly leverage their brand off the back of the Springboks brand when our real supporters in corporate South Africa – who enable us to put the Springbok rugby team on the field – are paying for the rights to use our intellectual property.”

Bok coach Rassie Erasmus also made a plea: “We really appreciate the backing and support the Springboks are receiving, and as a team.

“But, guys, can we please respect our sponsors who have carried us financially and have walked a long way with the team to this point? If you have the means, it would be great if you came on board as sponsors and join our loyal group of partners. 

“We appreciate every bit of support – from those sending messages, cheering for the team and simply watching our matches. It has been inspiring us to give everything on the field. Thank you to the whole of South Africa for your passionate support.” DM