Kylian Mbappe’s Decorated Facemask Fail Is a Lesson for Distributors

There are few branding opportunities bigger than global sports tournaments.

And right now, one of the most-watched is well underway – the UEFA European Championships.

I’ve been paying attention to branding opportunities connected to this tournament that brings together the top national soccer teams in Europe. There have been some notable examples for sure – like a giant Italy jersey displayed over Rome’s Spanish Steps.

Massive Azzurri jersey displayed over the 'Spanish Steps' in Rome ahead of today's match against Spain 🇮🇹⚽️ pic.twitter.com/5hvUppXaF0

— Hardcore Italians (@HardcoreItalian) June 20, 2024

One I’ve spotted, however, is a massive missed opportunity. It provides a lesson for promotional products distributors who work in the sports world at any level – from the biggest leagues and stars down to your local tee ball league.

Kylian Mbappe is the face of France’s exceptionally talented team. Heck, he’s one of the faces of the entire soccer world at the moment. Naturally, some would want to advertise on that face if it were somehow possible (without being weird), right?

Well, it just so happened that Mbappe took a blow to the nose in the opening week of the Euros, forcing him to wear a face mask for the remainder of France’s push for the trophy.

He tried to rock a personalized facemask that had the French tri-color design and the French team’s rooster crest, as well as his own initials. A nice bit of advertising for his personal brand and French football (soccer) more broadly, one might say.

However, UEFA, the governing body for European soccer, said non to that.

𝑵𝒐𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒐 𝒘𝒆 𝒅𝒆𝒔𝒆𝒓𝒗𝒆𝒅, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒐 𝒘𝒆 𝒏𝒆𝒆𝒅𝒆𝒅...

Kylian Mbappe is ready for action with his new mask! 🎭 pic.twitter.com/RQ4ZehXtKg

— 90min (@90min_Football) June 21, 2024

According to Footy Headlines, UEFA has a strict rule about what protective gear like facemasks can look like:

Medical equipment (e.g. head protection, facemasks, casts, kneepads or knee braces, elbow pads) worn on the field of play must be a single color and free of team and manufacturer identification.

As they say in American sports: “Boooooooooo!!!”

That’s no fun, right? You’d think players would be able to integrate protective equipment into the overall branded aesthetic of their uniform. But rules are rules, and rules sometimes vary from sport to sport or organization to organization.

Think about how, in the NHL, a goalie is allowed to have a helmet and facemask personalized with intricate designs, but MLB catchers are stuck with a helmet that just blends in with the rest of the uniform.

Someone obviously made Mbappe’s mask without knowing the rule – and this is someone working with athletes at the pinnacle of the sport in a major tournament. If they can miss a rule laid out by UEFA, surely any distributor can miss a regulation laid out by a local AAU basketball league or similar organization.

The lesson here for distributors is to be aware of every possible stipulation when working with end-buyers in the sports market. You might create a whole batch of products for your customers, only to find they are outlawed by their league or organization, and now you’re left with dead stock and an unhappy customer.

Actually, there’s an even broader takeaway for print and promo pros: Always know the branding parameters when you’re working for a client, whether they’re imposed by the customer or an outside organization.

Indeed, taking UEFA’s rules about equipment into account again, it’s important to look at every design element of your product to make sure it’s in line. Another rule stipulates that the manufacturer marker can’t exceed a certain size. So, if you’re decorating on apparel that might come from a premium apparel supplier like Adidas or Nike, you need to make sure that any logo isn’t too large for your application.

Anyhow, the FIFA World Cup is right around the corner, and I’m already excited to see what sorts of installations and product giveaways the three host nations of the United States, Mexico and Canada have in store. One thing I’m betting on though: No one is going to try to don a branded facemask.