Woman working at the World Cup in San Francisco Levi’s Stadium was asked to put tape over her Nike shoes: ‘They’re doing way too much’

The FIFA World Cup is currently underway, and the event has drawn attention for its level of corporate sponsorship. Fans and workers alike are noticing that this iteration of the tournament feels more saturated with advertisements than ever before.

The tournament has also introduced mandatory hydration breaks during games, which are fully sponsored and filled with extra commercials for viewers at home. Now the reach of these sponsorship deals is actually moving off the screen and directly onto the feet of the people working at the stadiums.

A TikTok user named Julissa Leilani recently shared her experience while working at the stadium in the San Francisco Bay Area, as BroBible reported. In a video that has racked up over 5.4 million views, she explained that management had sent out an email stating that staff members were not allowed to wear any branded gear. While she mentioned that she understood the logic behind the request, she accidentally showed up to her shift in a pair of shoes that featured a very visible Nike logo.

Management did not let it slide

According to Leilani, they handed her some tape and told her that she had to cover up the branding because it was not Adidas. She then showed the camera her shoes completely wrapped in black tape, looking visibly frustrated by the situation. “This is what the f— they made me do,” she said in the video, while sarcastically noting to her management that the situation was not that serious.

The reason for this extreme measure comes down to the intense protection FIFA maintains over its partnerships. FIFA has a long-standing deal with Adidas, and they require that all officials, referees, volunteers, and even the ball crew wear Adidas products from head to toe.

To keep the stadium clean for their sponsors, they demand that any competing brands be hidden from view. This policy is so strict that it even applies to the stadium name itself. Levi’s Stadium is currently being referred to as the San Francisco Bay Area Stadium to avoid any conflict with official tournament sponsors.

Interestingly, some brands have leaned into this corporate censorship rather than fighting it. When the Levi’s logo was covered at the stadium, the company actually changed its social media profile pictures to reflect the covered logo. They even started covering their own logos at various locations around the world to turn the situation into a viral marketing stunt. Levi’s even jumped into the comments on Leilani’s video, writing, “They got you too huh.”

Despite the brand-friendly spin, many people watching the video are not impressed. The comments section is filled with viewers who think the policy is total overkill. Some users pointed out that it is almost impossible to find shoes that do not have some kind of branding, while others argued that if FIFA wants to dictate exactly what employees wear, they should provide the entire uniform themselves.

One commenter summed up the general sentiment quite well, stating, “They’re doing way too much.” As another user noted, “Nobody is gonna look at a workers nikes and be like ‘omg I NEED to buy nikes now.’”