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Hmm, it may be a little late but a heads up to all small brewers putting out a World Cup beer, be careful how you brand it - FIFA is on the warpath and Hook Norton is currently in its sights according to Brand Republic.


The thrust of why FIFA is turning its sights on a relatively small brewer from Oxfordshire is that it has used the phrase 'Brewed to celebrate the FIFA World Cup 2010. Supporting England', which it's apparently not supposed to without jumping through a whole series of hoops and parting with large sums of cash!


Oh, and this goes for publicans thinking about how to go about showing the World Cup, apparently you've got to be careful not to breach guidelines too!


However, I do have a rare good word for Carlsberg as the official beer of the England team, which has sensibly chosen not to pursue any legal action, knowing that a) the backlash would be enormous and b) that it's frankly pointless as it would cost more than any settlement would be worth and, I would imagine, could easily put a brewery the size of Hook Norton on very shaky ground.


Mars, on the other hand, looks like it's going after Nestle for itsKit Kat Cross Your Fingers campaign, which could see an almighty legal battle - although I'm still hanging on the outcome of Unilever suing the BNP for using Marmite in a party political broadcast, perhaps we can get an extraordinary ruling where Nick Griffin is publicly flogged for being a total waste of skin & oxygen...


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