Much has been said about the Socceroos needing some divine intervention to be able to win a game in this world cup, let alone the whole thing.
So betting website, Sportsbet thought it would lend a hand by ordering a replica Christ the redeemer balloon and flying it over Melbourne.
The 46 metre balloon which trumps the original by a whole 8 metres, was accompanied by the hashtag #KeepingTheFaith and received positive messages from some however others took a dim view to using the son of Christ to promote sport and betting.
With one person tweeting: “#Sportsbet #jesus balloon - what the f*** were they thinking? Offensive to non religious and people of other religions #notachristiannation.”
Sportsbet.com.au spokesperson Shaun Anderson told AdNews: “Like any campaign it's hard to please everyone – we received a handful of complaints, but I think the vast majority of people saw it for what it was.
“It was designed to generate some buzz around the Socceroos and the world cup and we think its done that.”
Anderson said that they didn't believe that the balloon was religiously intensive, it was more designed to bring a bit of Brazil to Melbourne.
“When you think of Brazil and The World Cup, Christ the redeemer is one of the things you instantly think about, like when you think of Paris you think of the Eiffel Tower,” Anderson said.
The Socceroo's place in the group of death hasn't dampened the betting market with Sportsbet predicting betting with its site will double compared to 2010.
“We do have more people betting with us, the betting on Australia hasn't been very strong but the betting still getting a lot of interest despite Australia not expected to do very well.”
While Sportsbet would not be lead of the cost of the balloon, Anderson did highlight that 83% of its World Cup media spend would go on traditional channels with 17% being spent on items such as inflatable deities.
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