Legia Warsaw's Fan-Building Ad Campaign Sparks Countrywide Controversy

Polish side Legia Warsaw "has launched a countrywide advertising campaign employing billboards, press and the internet," according to Jaroslaw Adamowski of INSIDE WORLD FOOTBALL. But the campaign "may have backfired after fans of other clubs took insult at the ads" appearing in their cities. Legia won Poland's 2013 Championship and the 2013 Cup of Poland. Drawing on these successes, the club "is aiming to attract new supporters from outside of the Polish capital." In addition to Warsaw, the billboards "are expected to appear in other major Polish cities" including Lodz, Krakow, Poznan, Wroclaw and Gdansk. The campaign's slogan is "You can even be from Poznan if you're a supporter of Legia." The ad also claims that Legia is "the champion of entire Poland." The use of the word "even" has "fuelled accusations of the campaign insulting inhabitants of the five cities, suggesting these cities are somehow inferior" (INSIDE WORLD FOOTBALL, 1/30).