Please Style Your Hair Appropriately for the Confederations Cup

The 2009 Confederations Cup is being held in South Africa from June 14th through June 28th as a "dry run" for WC 2010. Stadia need to be ready, crime needs to be dealt with, hookers need to be clean, and hair needs to be appropriately styled.


According to Ideate (a blog dedicated to small businesses in South Africa), adidas' Kopanya campaign encompasses not only the creation of a match ball inspired by African art, but also ads using "barbershop signage as an African art form." Apparently it is considered a measure of fame if you have a particular haircut/hairstyle named after you so adidas has put together this series of ads based around famous players.

The Kaka: Emo mop-top on the pitch?

The Xavi and the Gerrard: Spiky speed?

The Morris, The Pienaar and The Fanteni: The herd mentality?

We're 92.6% certain this is some not so subtle pseudo-viral marketing thing. Fortunately for adidas the posters are pretty sweet, but we do have some questions:

1. Last time we checked, England weren't playing in the Confederations Cup, so why is Stevie G present? Is it because he is one of the centerpieces of their footy adverts?

2. If adidas is using players from teams not even in the Confederations Cup, they are certainly missing the opportunity to explore some better hairstyles. We think they should add Cisse, Fellaini, and Sagna to the mix.

Any other suggestions?

[HT to: Frankie J - who knew this guy read UF?]