FA shows Iceland red card over 'England' store rebrand

The battle for World Cup marketing dominance might be over but the post-mortem is only just beginning for supermarket chain Iceland after it has revealed the Football Association sent a cease and desist letter to the company after it rebranded three of its stores “England”.

While the England football team have had their best World Cup since 1966, after finishing in “bronze” position, it seems the FA have not been smiling much.

Iceland renamed a trio of locations to “England”, adjusting the signage accordingly, in the build up to last week’s Argentina game. However, the FA was apparently left unimpressed by the stunt, apparently telling the chain that customers may be led to believe there was a commercial relationship between the supermarket and the FA, when there was none.

Iceland was one of many companies to launch tactical activity around the game, including Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Paddy Power and SkyBet.

An Iceland spokesperson said: “We are shocked and deeply disappointed that, on the day the whole country was getting behind England, the FA chose to send lawyers after us instead of celebrating the incredible support being shown for the national team.

“Our shopfront signage change was in three hometown stores of Harry Kane, Jude Bellingham and Jordan Pickford and was about nothing more than backing England and creating a bit of excitement for our customers and colleagues ahead of one of the biggest matches in years.

“What makes this even more extraordinary is the timing. Had England beaten Argentina, this letter would have meant us to stripping away our displays, removing our social media posts and ending our celebrations just days before a World Cup Final.”

FA shows Iceland red card over ‘England’ store rebrand