Pink logo can only be seen during the Dutch men's team match
Leeuwarden/Veendam, December 9, 2021 – The World Curling Federation (WCF) and erotic webshop EasyToys have reached a new agreement about the main sponsorship of the Olympic curling qualifying tournament. After the decision of some foreign broadcasters not to broadcast the matches, it was decided to replace the EasyToys logo on all ice rinks with a joint statement from both parties.
Since the start of the tournament, last Sunday 5 December in the Elfstedenhal in Leeuwarden, there has been quite a bit of commotion surrounding the involvement of the erotic webshop. "We understand the decision, but are nevertheless very disappointed that the international curling association initially misjudged this," said Eric Idema, CEO of EDC, the parent company of EasyToys. "We hoped that our visibility would contribute to breaking the taboo that still rests in many countries on both sexuality and on our industry. It is unfortunate that adjustments are now needed to get the sport to the fans."
Almost all EasyToys logos will be removed in and around the ice rink. The logo will still be visible on the home end on only one lane and the hoglines so important for curling will also remain 'EasyToys pink'. The International Curling Federation has issued a statement to apologize for the inconvenience caused to athletes, fans and partners. With the decision to remove the erotic brand, the association is meeting the American and Japanese broadcasters who had decided to boycott the curling competitions. Instead of the brand name, it has now been decided to replace the logos with the hashtag 'equalityforall'.
"With this slogan, we still want to start the conversation about sexual wellness and the importance of safe and pleasant sex for everyone. In many countries that conversation is already well underway, but the boycott confirms to us that we must continue to work on this topic to normalize it for a wider audience," said Idema. The CEO is pleased that they have reached a compromise by means of the hashtag and hopefully can put the resulting noise behind them. "During an Olympic qualifying tournament, it must of course be about the sport and not about the sponsor. Curling also deserves that as a sport that is one of the few mixed sports that is way ahead of its time. In fact, just like us."
Dutch curling team
The matches for the women's and men's teams, including the Dutch men's teams, will start on Saturday 11 December. They will compete with Denmark, Germany, the Czech Republic, Italy, Finland, Japan, Norway and South Korea. They play at least four of those matches on the 'EasyToys track', where the logo can still be seen. A total of six tickets to Beijing are still available: three for the women and three for the men. The mixed doubles matches have already been played, where there was also a battle for two places at the Winter Olympics.
During the rest day of the qualifying tournament, on December 10, EasyToys organizes its own Curling competition. Under the heading 'EasyToys Blij dat ik Glij, various teams will compete with each other. On behalf of EasyToys, Rumag, FC Emmen, Dance4Life and SC Cambuur, well-known Dutch people will test their curling skills against each other.