This is not a question and it certainly isn't an overstatement: there is nothing better than a World Cup. While plenty of people will argue against this, they are all wrong. The World Cup is an all-encompassing, international competition. It brings people together, it gives us seconds of pure, unadulterated elation and, most of importantly of all, it makes us believe.
As I'm sure you're all aware, the world is a strange place right now. Among several international feuds and global disasters, the World Cup acts as a respite and a joyous occasion of which we can all get lost in. The moment the country of your choice scores, the hairs on the back of your neck stand up, your arms propel into the air at the speed of light and for one second - one tiny, adrenaline-filled moment in time - you are overwhelmed with happiness and national pride.
However, for all the beauty, brilliance and fandom that a World Cup brings with it, it has also given birth to one of the strangest marketing campaigns in recent history.
It would be safe to say that football (or soccer) has traditionally attracted a very male-orientated crowd. The most famous players on the planet are men, the highest paid players are men and the crowd is made up of a largely male fanbase. However, in order to attract more women to the sport, a Mexican underwear company have come up with a very strange item of clothing.
The pants in question were created by Vicky Form and vibrate every time there is a goal in the World Cup and have been labelled as sexist and garbage by several commenters on Instagram.
The pants are called "Feel the Game" and retail at around $48 a piece. In a commercial from the brand, they break down exactly how they work in a not remotely sexist way: a girlfriend complains that her boyfriend spends too long watching sports, until she is given a pair of vibrating pants and is suddenly gripped by the sport.
"We have created the first pair of [panties] that let you feel the passion of the game," the narrator of the commercial intones in Spanish. "The [panties] are linked to a robot that interprets the action and transforms it into vibrations in real time. The robot makes the panties move."
The company are now under scrutiny on social media, with people labelling it as sexist and ridiculous.
"A shame that a company 'for women with attitude' take out this kind of propaganda. When did they come to denigrate women like that?" wrote one incensed commenter on Instagram.
"How sad that a brand of female lingerie only know how to sell sexism, sex, and machismo," another wrote.
According to Forbes Mexico, the brand's CEO José Zaga indicated that he does not think the vibrating panties are sexist in the slightest. He said that Vicky Form invented the garment to keep the brand present in the conversation surrounding the World Cup — and insisted that the message of the ad was inclusion. He also added that the underwear is still in the prototype phase, and will only actually be sold if there is enough demand.
Giving the outcry against the pants, it's highly unlikely that we will ever see them come to fruition. Not exactly a major loss, is it?
