As in previous years, and as recommended by marketing experts when you use current events to reach out to customers, companies are jumping on the World Cup bandwagon as an advertising vehicle. Inevitably, some are even playing to classic cultural clichés.

So having seen what the Croatians make of the English recently, I’d thought I’d examine what the Brits taunt the Germans for.

Sausage conflict. Source: walkers website screenshot.

Enter Walkers Crisps, owned by Pepsico and interesting with respect to international packaging design. Add the World Cup theme. Then sprinkle it with German-ness – which to the Brits seems to be Bratwurst.

The advertising campaign has a number of major flaws (the houses in the background are clearly not GERMAN, they look like a middle-class estate in a British suburban commuter belt), but oh dear – is this all Walkers could come up with?! (More: Walkers Crisps).

Despite this, I have to think back to a case study when the MBAs designed a chocolate snack on World Cup flavours. It didn’t win the case study, but looking back at it now – there was obviously a good idea there somewhere!!

For an absolute teutophobic beer ad, see the classic Carling Black Label ad.