No one reacts when a superstar like Erling Braut Haaland or Lionel Messi spends millions to buy a gigantic villa, a holiday home or a sports car. – It comes with stardom and is completely ok.
What is more problematic is when the volume of extreme luxury becomes large at the same time as you crowd yourself with dictators and other sinking kingdoms that have completely different values than what we have at home in Norway. It is important not to forget that they are stars because they have fans and people who like them.
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I would like to quote one of Spider-man’s most famous quotes: “With great power comes great responsibility.”
There is no doubt that Erling Braut Haaland is a well-deserved folk hero. – He delivers football and entertainment at levels we have never seen before here at home on the mountain. The way he messed around, before he was promoted in the World Cup and sent Brazil home in shame, will be stuck in the collective memory in Norway almost forever.
From folk hero to brand – and why it’s getting harder to love him
For the first time in many years, football fans can stay in shape, while watching a football match. – It is now socially accepted to Viking-Rowing in public spaces and with that get the blood pumping.
Although Haaland is the most important player on the Norwegian national team, it is a team effort over many years that brought us to the World Cup and to the quarter-finals against England. – In fact, the success for Norway in sports is explained by foreign experts by the fact that we with a country under six million and have an everybody-shall-get-be-with culture.
There are several things that are commented on out in the wider world that are not only positive. – Haaland’s advertisement for Norwegian farmed salmon, which is criticized for animal welfare, extensive use of medicines (antibiotics) and environmental damage. Why play for Manchester City, which is owned by one of the world’s worst dictatorships, Saudi Arabia.
After the World Cup, Norway was ecstatic, the national team met with the royal family and the government, followed by a parade at Karl Johan where 150,000 had turned up to pay tribute to the national team. Erling Haaland did not have time. Instead, he flew to Italy in a private plane to attend a fashion show.
A lot has happened since then, which doesn’t exactly build Haaland’s image.
Erling Haaland is not only a football star who gets a salary of about 9 million kroner a week – he is also a global brand that is cashed in. The superstar is an investor with over a billion kroner in wealth.
Manchester City’s financial cheating
Manchester City, has been found guilty of financial violations in the order of £900 million – almost 12 billion kroner. The club is also owned by the royal family of the Emirates by Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, which has raised questions about ethics and human rights.
Last Friday’s news that he and his father Alf Inge have bought extreme luxury villas in Abu Dhabi does not fly in a country like Norway – a country built on democratic principles and an idea that everyone is equal. Why it is so important to crowd with oil sheikhs and their imported Only Fans models is beyond my comprehension.
And now to the lawsuit against Norwegian. Three days have been set aside in court after the airline, in its celebration of Norway’s success in the World Cup, placed angel hair on the tip of a Norwegian plane in an Instagram post. – It is possible that they have a legal right in the wrong use of Haaland’s expressions, but if we have to be careful about how we express our excitement and that you risk being sued afterwards, a lot disappears.
The case will come up in March at the earliest.
Manchester City have won all their Premier League games this season including today’s 3 – 2 win at the Etihad Stadium over Ipswich. Erling Haaland delivered two of the goals.
The lawsuit against Norwegian
Norwegian used a photo of Haaland’s characteristic ponytail on a plane in an Instagram post during the World Cup. Haaland’s rights company is suing the airline, and the case will go to court over three days.
The company that handles Haaland’s rights has also sued a craftsman in Poland for illegal use of names. – Small picks, but a small stone on the wrong side of the scale.
The lawsuit against the craftsman in Poland
Haaland’s rights company has also sued a craftsman in Poland for illegal use of his name. The case illustrates how hard the Haaland brand is protected.
It is becoming increasingly difficult to love Haaland – which is actually necessary for Haaland’s products and sponsorships to have value.
There is something fundamentally unsexy about constantly asserting one’s right. – For those who want to understand more, I refer to Henrik Ibsen’s play in five acts “An Enemy of the People”, published in 1882.
Why this matters
For Haaland’s sponsorships and products to have value, he needs people to cheer him on. When his image is weakened by associations with cheating, dictatorships and greed, the commercial value also falls. No one is rooting for a money-hungry asshole.
I don’t know if the Norwegian, wealthy football player Erling Haaland’s lawsuit against Norwegian is justified, the lawyers will have to find out. -Norwegian, who rejects the claim, is informed by marketing experts that a “collaboration” of this type costs around NOK 10 million, about a week’s salary for Norway’s biggest football star.
Hard to imagine that Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in his heyday would do the same.
Ørjan Nyland gets the opportunity he has worked for
