In one of the week’s more unusual football boot stories, electronics giants Sony have revealed that they will be adding tiny sponsorship logos to the bottom of Arsenal star Olivier Giroud’s football boots.

Why? Well, the story is in the details – or Sony say. The messages are so small, they will only be visible to those watching matches on ultra high-res 4K televisions.

Sony pulled off something similar at Wimbledon in 2013, where British tennis player Anne Keothavong had tiny Sony ads on her fingernails and tennis equipment – again, only visible to those watching the event in 4K.

After broadcasting the 2013 Confederations Cup and select matches from the 2014 FIFA World Cup in 4K, Sony look to be attempting to stamp 4K as the definitive football-watching experience.

Olivier Giroud wore his micro-branded PUMA evoPOWER 1 in Pool Green for the first time in Arsenal’s 2-1 defeat at the hands of Manchester United this weekend.

Giroud added in the Press Release: “Football is my passion, and I want everyone who watches it to feel what I feel when I run out onto the pitch, and 4K television is the nearest thing you can get to actually being on the pitch yourself.

“Sony’s ‘Microtising’ campaign excites me because you can only see it with 4K technology, and the closer my fans can get to me playing the better for me and the better for them.”

Sony also revealed plans to brand individual blades of grass in the launch of the plan, highlighting the quality of their 4K resolution displays.

Is this first-of-a-kind deal the future of football?

Or has advertising simply gone too far?

Let us know in the comments!



