Asko’s logos were visible on the World Cup football broadcast on Saturday. PDO
Many Finns could rub their eyes on Saturday, when the Netherlands faced Sweden in the soccer World Cup.
At the same time as the orange-shirted Holland defeated Sweden (5–1), a sight quite familiar to Finns was projected onto the side of the field.
The logos of the Asko company and its name flashed on the billboards on the edge of the playing field.
That is, exactly the same logos that the Finnish interior design store chain and furniture factory Asko has used for a long time.
What is it really about?
Chinese pattern
Asko’s ads already attracted attention during the summer 2024 European football championships. At that time, the logos of the Finnish company could be seen, for example, in the match between Slovenia and Portugal.
An explanatory factor was found for this. The background was the 2010 corporate reorganization, in which the production of Asko’s household appliances was transferred to the ownership of the Slovenian Gorenje Group.
Gorenje Group has sold household appliances under the Asko brand, and it has promoted Asko in North America and China, among others.
The reason why Asko’s logos were visible at the World Cup has its roots in an even more recent acquisition.
In June 2018, the Chinese Hisense acquired a total of 95 percent ownership of Gorenje. Asko has its own section on Hisense’s website, where the company advertises Asko products. Asko also has websites in Chinese.
Hisense, on the other hand, acts as an official partner of the international football association Fifa and the European football association Uefa, which is why Hisense has had its own place in the sideline advertisements of the World Cup and European Championship.
Asko’s parent company Indoor Group went bankrupt in February this year. However, the manufacture of Asko household appliances still continues through Gorenje.