In an advertising campaign for a chips manufacturer, a Russian football player may be replaced by another athlete. In particular, the contract has already been offered to Cameroonian Samuel Eto'o. Experts are not surprised: the performance of the Russian team at Euro 2012 caused reputational damage to all sponsor companies.

Andrei Arshavin may lose all advertising contracts. This opinion is expressed by market participants. Earlier it became known that Lays Russia was looking for a replacement for the football player. Anji striker Samuel Eto'o wrote on Twitter that the chip manufacturer offered him to replace Arshavin in an advertising campaign. The Cameroonian refused.

The scandal surrounding Arshavin occurred after the national team lost at Euro 2012. The footballer said that the expectations of the fans are their problems. The statement sparked intense criticism. Lays' actions in this case are natural. No company would want to be associated with such an athlete, says advertising market expert Alexander Kovalev.

“The marketers who run this product simply have no room for maneuver, so they are now forced to look for some football player to plug this hole. In a good way, of course, this may affect football in the future - it will become quite difficult for them to attract funds Because no large company wants to “get caught” like this. They made a bet on a player and made a little mistake,” he explained. “In general, when you attract famous people to promote a particular brand, you take a risk. I don’t know how much Arshavin gets, but contracts can be measured in millions of dollars a year.”

For advertisers, the football player was interesting only at the peak of his career. The image of the captain of the Russian national team is not suitable for the advertising business, says football agent Vladimir Abramov.

“You have to be a true star, say, Ronald. He works wonders on the football field. You also need to have external data, of course. He is not so much a football player, he is also an athlete: tall, powerful. And Andrei Arshavin is not an athlete “Alexander Kerzhakov, even if he scored, he would hardly have won a big jackpot on advertising contracts, because he is a small guy,” he noted.

The footballer's advertising contract with Gazprom remains in question. Deputy Chairman of the Board Valery Golubev has already stated that Arshavin should be expelled from the country.

Daria Zlotnikova

Advertisers are disappointed in Andrei Arshavin