From Carlsberg's "patriotic rebranding of 19 pubs throughout England to an ad for Mars showing an armada of English fans crossing the channel to France as if they were invading the country," advertisers tapped national pride to varying degrees for Euro 2016, according to Seb Joseph of THE DRUM. Though it is "standard fare for marketers," it is arguable that they were "unwillingly caught up in the unnerving sense of xenophobia that’s tinged the cultural mood over the last month." Havas Sport & Entertainment Cake Managing Partner Dan Connolly said that he felt "underwhelmed" by "some of the marketing" from English brands, branding those efforts as "xenophobic and overly patriotic." He said, "The xenophobic marketing from perhaps one or two brands plays very badly against the off-field coverage. ... A big tournament needs to cut through culturally and from a news perspective." It is easy to "get caught up in the very distinct cultures" around sports in the U.K., where unlike the U.S., local rivalries are an "intrinsic part of many team-based sports due to the relatively short distance between clubs." Iris Sport Managing Dir Nico Tuppen said, "In the U.S., sport is as important as film, music or fashion, which isn’t the case over here. We [the U.K.] go quite deep [into sport culture] because we understand the responsibility of partnering with a football team, a tournament or a player" (THE DRUM, 7/13).
