In January 2015, SKINS announced themselves as the world’s first ‘Official Non-Sponsor of FIFA’. Successful sponsorships identify and celebrate shared values. By publicly disowning FIFA, SKINS actively demonstrated its own values and challenged the official Sponsors’ complicity.

Applying a lot of creative irony we subverted and parodied all the elements of traditional sponsorships; a fake press conference, glossy launch film, press pack, official merchandise and brand usage guidelines. We even auctioned FIFA’s silence on Ebay. A full-page non-sponsorship announcement ad in Sepp Blatter’s local paper made sure he heard us.

The campaign then got serious. A satirical film called the Hypocrisy World Cup exposed the hypocrisy in Sponsors’ turning a blind eye to the World Cup worker conditions in Qatar. Conditions they would never accept in their supply chains.

The idea was designed to ignite public conversation, create a movement and pressure sponsors to stand with SKINS in demanding reform.

Phase 1.

Announcing the world’s first ‘Official Non-Sponsor of FIFA’. We targeted key media outlets with targeted press packs to seed the campaign. It was also launched through digital, print and social media.

The campaign received extensive coverage across all channels in more than 25 countries and worldwide in social media.

Phase 2.

The Hypocrisy World Cup film showed FIFA corruption was not victimless. Global TV and press coverage. Promoted by NGOs such as TUC, AVAZZ and Transparency International.

The movement built. The public called out sponsors in social media, ‘ad-jacking’ logos to satirise human rights abuses.

SKINS distributed a fake International Herald Tribune at the FIFA Presidential elections in June. FBI arrests put SKINS in the spotlight when the FIFA crisis broke.

Phase 3.

PR: SKINS’ Chairman Jaimie Fuller became global media’s go-to spokesperson for industry reaction. SKINS were a constant presence on international rolling news.

The Official FIFA Non-Sponsor campaign generated over 400 global TV and press news stories, with 100% positive sentiment.

The media attention forced Sponsors to take a position and add their billion-dollar voice to the call for change. SKINS placed themselves at the heart of, what is to date, football’s biggest-ever scandal.

With the help of the FBI, the previously impervious FIFA edifice started to crumble and SKINS’ Chairman Jaimie Fuller became the media’s go-to spokesperson for industry-reaction to the scandal.

Championing ‘pure sport’ is SKINS’ purpose; they didn’t know where the FIFA fight would take them. It generated $50m+ in global TV and press coverage but, most importantly, it fundamentally changed the ‘FIFA reform’ debate. After consultation with SKINS, Tier 1 sponsors Coke, VISA and McDonalds publicly and privately demanded for “independently-led” reform.

Ultimate success came when, after 17 years, Sepp Blatter finally resigned and was banned from football.

PR was at the heart of the ‘SKINS Official Non-sponsor of FIFA’ campaign as ultimately it was the media heat that forced the sponsors to listen and take action. By making sponsors association with FIFA toxic, SKINS would compel them to use their billion-dollar influence to force FIFA to clean up. No brand had ever been brave enough to challenge FIFA. The press became advocates of the cause, loving the David and Goliath angle. The idea entered popular culture and SKINS achieved the unthinkable by galvanising sponsors, the public and the press to achieve the campaign objective.

SKINS realised they couldn’t attack FIFA directly, so instead, they went for FIFA’s soft underbelly – the sponsors. Blatter may have no shame, but Coke, McDonalds, Adidas and the rest have reputations to uphold.

SKINS mobilised public opinion to make Sponsors’ association with FIFA toxic, forcing them to use their billion-dollar influence to force FIFA to clean up. Meanwhile, SKINS partnered with independent activist group #NewFifaNow to spell out what meaningful reform looked like and ensure we weren’t merely seen as a publicity stunt.

The campaign comprised three phases:

1. The ‘Launch’ parodied traditional sponsorship tactics to mobilise the public.

2. The ‘Hypocrisy World Cup’ film exposed Sponsor hypocrisy in turning a blind eye to worker conditions in Qatar to mobilise influencers, NGOs and celebrities

3. ‘Activist PR’ leveraged the credibility of the campaign and social movement to become the media’s go-to spokesperson for industry reaction during the ‘FIFA crises’.

For 17 years, rampant FIFA corruption had been ruining football. Bribes, intimidation and sleaze were rife. Disregard for the very values that FIFA set out to uphold were obvious, with blatant deal-making affecting the World Cup vote. When Qatar, a country with an appalling human rights record, was awarded the 2022 World cup it sent shockwaves around the globe. But, again, nothing was done. The world needed a FIFA cleansed of corruption to lead the world’s biggest sport but they were seen as untouchable.

All sports brands talk eloquently about the thrill of competition, but only SKINS, a plucky Aussie sportswear brand with an appetite for taking on the sports establishment, had the attitude to go beyond the pitch and fight for football itself.

So taking down FIFA and demanding reform for football was a mission SKINS gladly set themselves.