What the Criminal Prosecution of Bavaria's Beer Babes Tells Us About the Enfeeblement of Official Sports Sponsorships

(MoneyWatch)  A stunt by Bavaria beer -- in which 36 models wearing orange minidresses sneaked into the Holland v. Denmark World Cup game (video below) -- has led to criminal charges against two Dutch women, and demonstrated again that being an official sponsor of a large sporting event is a waste of money. Do you know who the official World Cup beer sponsor is? Me neither, and it's my job to know!*

The Bavaria stunt has driven masses of traffic to Bavaria's web site and dominated headlines in Europe. The "Bavaria Beer Babes" got into the game disguised as Denmark supporters until they stripped down to their orange dresses, but they didn't wear any beer logos. All they did was wear orange, the Dutch team's color. They were kicked out of the game at half time after FIFA figured out they were a marketing ploy designed to attract crowd shots from broadcasters. It then emerged their tickets had been provided by English soccer pundit Robbie Earle. He has now been fired from his job with ITV.

In addition to criminal charges brought by South African authorities under the local Merchandise Marks Act, the stunt and its bizarre legal aftermath have created headlines beyond Bavaria's wildest dreams, most of them sympathetic to the models.

The ploy can't have cost more than a few thousand dollars, but we know it was worth the money because Bavaria pulled off something similar in the 2006 World Cup in Germany, getting truckloads of publicity when anyone wearing the beer's promotional orange pants was forced to take them off before entering a stadium in order not to offend Budweiser.

And it's not just obscure foreign beers: In this week's viral video chart from Ad Age, Nike (NKE)'s unofficial World Cup ad has gotten more views than the spot from Adidas (ADDYY), which paid for the rights to be associated with the finals.

When will advertisers learn: long-term associations with ongoing sports enterprises are one thing, but official sponsorships for single events are a waste of money.

*It's Budweiser, but I had to look it up. Related:

• The Head-Butt Heard Around the World: Why Shock Tactics Have Become Advertisers' Only Tactics
• Yes, That's Snoop Dogg With a Lightsaber: BNET's 10 Best Ever World Cup Ads
• Nike's Awesome World Cup Ad Shows Dwindling Power of "Official" Sports Sponsorships