FIFA copyright watchdogs be damned: Pizza Pizza is marketing its unofficial World Cup special
Introducing the football match you can play from your couch
Later today, more than 50,000 footie fans will gather at BC Place to watch Canada fight for FIFA glory against Qatar. For the rest of us, there’s a tournament you can play without ascending from a horizontal position on the couch: the Pitch Party Pizza, from Canada’s most iconic pie slingers (no, not Pizzeria Badiali).
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The standard party-sized pizza box has been kitted out to resemble a regulation field complete with two limited-edition miniature nets. The set does not include a ball, but based on the promo image, a cap from a Coke bottle is a good option. The only interruption to the game: when someone wants another slice.
But you won’t see the terms FIFA or even World Cup anywhere on the box: Pizza Pizza is not an official event sponsor—and we know that the Fédération Internationale de Football Association does not take kindly to unsanctioned businesses using their trademarked terminology, logos or trophy design.
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Toronto bars and restaurants have expressed frustration at what they see as the ridiculousness of being forced to use generic, non-FIFA-coded language like “Game Day” or “Soccer’s Biggest Tournament.” (But better that than incur the dreaded cease-and-desist letter, which is what happened to a Toronto cannabis shop selling bongs that closely resembled the World Cup trophy.)
Besides, creative workarounds are part of the fun. Particularly for Pizza Pizza’s marketing department, where weird but wonderful advertising efforts are almost as signature as the garlic dipping sauce. Who could forget the Buzz Off Pizza, a pie with supposed mosquito-repelling capabilities? Or the internet-famous dip roller? Or last year’s 4/20 pre-rolls, which were zero per cent cannabis, 100 per cent delicious? Whoever heads up the brand’s marketing team is the real champion here.
Courtney Shea is a freelance journalist in Toronto. She started her career as an intern at Toronto Life and continues to contribute frequently to the publication, including her 2022 National Magazine Award–winning feature, “The Death Cheaters,” her regular Q&As and her recent investigation into whether Taylor Swift hung out at a Toronto dive bar (she did not). Courtney was a producer and writer on the 2022 documentary The Talented Mr. Rosenberg, based on her 2014 Toronto Life magazine feature “The Yorkville Swindler.”
