Chinese, Italians, Americans are trying to cash in:

Last summer, French football player Zinedine Zidane made the headlines with his infamous headbutt during the final of the UEFA World Cup.

Now, Italian fashion designer Alessandro Ferrari is trying to cash in on the event, by launching a clothing line under the name Xqua, using a poorly designed head-butt pictogram (top left). “I wanted to transform the negative act into a positive social message to young people“, the Italian proudly claims.

Apart from the fact that the “positive message” is probably more directed towards his shareholders, Mr Ferrari is also running a bit behind the facts. Another brand, Got ZiZou, has already been selling T-shirts with a headbutt symbol in America (top right).

And even that one is a clear rip-off. Within days after the World Cup final, a Chinese business man registered the head-butt trademark shown left. Zhao Xiaokai, general manager of a sport-related company, registered the trademark for shoes, hats and beer products. “This recognition level of this trademark is very high. Using a silhouette to render this image avoids violating the soccer star’s image rights,” Zhao said.

Well, maybe. But does anybody really think that these things will take off? This whole head-butt incident will soon be forgotten. Maybe that’s why no French company has made an attempt to make money out of it.