Women's Soccer more popular?

Since the mid 90’s, women’s soccer has grown across the globe. Women's soccer in Germany has come a long way since 1970 when the country's federation, the DFB, reluctantly lifted a ban on women playing the game.
Germany's women have now won successive World Cup titles, including last month's 2-0 victory in the final over Brazil in Shanghai, and have been feted as national heroines after not letting in a single goal. More than nine million television viewers - an impressive 55 percent market share - watched the final, making it one of the most-watched broadcasts of the year in Germany. Tens of thousands of cheering fans turned out to welcome home the team. It is not only in Germany that women's soccer has gained in popularity. The game has long been a big draw for girls and women in the United States, which won the World Cup in 1991 and 1999, and some U.S. players have become celebrities.
In Scandinavia, women's soccer has long enjoyed broad support. Norway won the 1995 World Cup. Sweden and Denmark also qualified for the 2007 World Cup finals. In Brazil, a women's league will be launched on Oct. 25. Some countries still are having issues allowing women play soccer. Soon enough, women’s soccer events will draw more fans than men’s soccer events.

Poor Choice by Gillette?

Gillette recently created a national commercial that had three sports superstars to advertise and market the smoothness of their razors. The three athletes are Tiger Woods, Roger Federer and Thierry Henry. Now people obviously know who Tiger Woods is and have some idea of who Roger Federer is, but who is Thierry Henry?? Thierry Henry is a french soccer athlete who is well known in Europe. However, not many people in the United States know who he is. Gillette may have made a mistake with this marketing choice in Henry. They tried to influence a sport that is not popular in the United States and use a strong marketing tool in Europe that is not known here. It would have been much better if Gillette used someone like David Beckham who is well known all around the world especially now in the United States with his move to the Los Angeles Galaxy. If they even took an athlete from the National Football League, or the National Basketball Association, or Major League Baseball then that would be a great marketing tool but Thierry Henry was not an effective person for marketing.