The Vancouver Whitecaps may have had a great promotional idea for their marketing video, but it has been criticized as being too provocative.  The video in question was of a woman with body painting, emblazoned with the question, “Where will you be March 19?” referring to the team’s Major League Soccer debut against Toronto on that date.  

But it has definitely achieved what the team set out – mega exposure – with the video going viral getting over 33,000 YouTube hits.  But is this good enough? Isn’t there still a problem with the actual video, despite its obvious success?  It has been said that the Whitecaps have overstepped their bounds with the model having a Whitecaps jersey and Bell logo painted onto her body.  An associate director of media relations, Marie-Eve Francoeur said, “We’ve spoken to the Whitecaps about this issue and they clearly understand our position.”

The argument in favor of the video – as given by the team’s marketing director Kim Jackman – is that it was only intended “to demonstrate the passion soccer fans have for their sport, including the tradition of body-painting and how it is done.”  It was meant as an “artistic expression” and was only released after receiving positive feedback from the female sector of the Whitecaps staff.