Supermarket chain Iceland has been ordered to cease and desist by the FA after running a cheeky World Cup-themed marketing campaign ahead of England vs Argentina. The Three Lions were already dealing with the frustration of a 2-1 loss to the reigning champions in Atlanta, but now another off-field conspiracy has emerged.
Before the match, Iceland replaced its signage and temporarily rebranded three stores as “England” to capitalize on the World Cup buzz. But FA was never fun. The retailer said it received a legal notice ordering it to immediately stop the campaign and remove all related promotional materials.
The notification came on the very day Thomas Tuchel’s side played against the South American side. FA representatives are believed to have told retailers that shoppers could be mislead despite there being no commercial partnership between the supermarket and FA.
An Icelandic spokesperson said: “We are shocked and deeply disappointed that on a day when the whole country is falling behind England, the Icelandic Association has chosen to send a lawyer instead of celebrating the outstanding support for the national team.”
“The changes to our store signage, made in three of our local Harry Kane, Jude Bellingham and Jordan Pickford stores, were all about supporting England and bringing a bit of excitement to our customers and colleagues ahead of one of the biggest games in years. What makes this even more extraordinary is the timing.
“If England had won against Argentina, this letter would have meant we would have torn down our displays, deleted our social media posts and ended our celebrations days before the World Cup final. At the moment when the country was supposed to be coming together to cheer England on the biggest stage, we are being told to pull everything back. That’s hard for us to understand.”
Iceland also insisted there was no intention to imply any commercial arrangement with the England team. The supermarket chain further revealed that the FA considered that the image of the England team may have been negatively affected by the stunt, and ordered Iceland to remove all relevant material and provide written confirmation of compliance by 4pm on July 17.
Had England beaten Argentina to reach the final, a suspension letter would have forced Iceland to remove their promotional displays before reaching their first World Cup final since 1966.
Tuchel’s team has one game left on American soil, the third-place deciding match against France. The teams will face off in Miami on Saturday, July 18th, with kick-off scheduled for 10pm BST.
