Neymar under fire after W-Cup ‘mea culpa’ advert

SAO PAULO: Neymar’s decision to use a sponsored advert to admit he sometimes over-reacted to fouls at the World Cup has backfired, with Brazilian marketing experts saying it had made the Paris St Germain striker’s image even worse.

Under the title “A New Man Every Day”, Sunday’s video was backed by personal care products maker Gillette and broadcast on several Brazilian TV networks.

“You may think I exaggerate. And sometimes I do exaggerate. But the truth is I suffer on the pitch,” Neymar said in the advert, referring to the constant fouls he received at the World Cup.

“I took long to accept your criticism. I took long to look at myself in the mirror and become a new man.”

Brazil were knocked out by Belgium in the World Cup quarter-finals earlier this month.

Marketing specialists said the advert damaged the 26-year-old player’s brand as much as his histrionics did in Russia.

“The whole market waited 15 days since the end of the World Cup to hear from him,” Amir Somoggi, a partner at marketing company Sports Value, said.

“He gave some interviews, but did not admit his exaggerations then. Now he has hidden behind a TV commercial to do that. This was great for the sponsor, after all we are talking about the brand. But it was not good for Neymar, who now has an even bigger image crisis to handle.”

Sports marketing consultant Erich Beting believes the timing of the advert was a mistake.

“Neymar’s problems happened on the pitch, and he will not play tomorrow to show he has changed, as the ad says. That fact, and his decision to pick an ad to do it, will make it all sound empty. It will be weeks until he has a chance to show any real improvement,” Beting said.

Jose Colagrossi, another sports marketing consultant, agreed.

“It would be different if he really meant it, in a live press conference, looking eye to eye and not in a sponsored video,” he said.

It is not the first time Neymar has used an advert to handle an image crisis.

In 2011, he was criticised for constant misbehavior and he used an advert sponsored by phone carrier Nextel to address his fans. — AP