#WeAreAllMonkeys: A Fútbol Approach to Dealing with Racism

Bananas: Bringing People Together Since April 2014

In case you missed it, racism has become the hot topic in sports over the past week, thanks to some leaked comments from Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling. You've probably read plenty about that, so I don't need to say much there.

What you probably did not hear as much about is what happened that same weekend during a professional soccer/fútbol match in Spain. During a match between FC Barcelona and Villareal FC, Barcalona defender Dani Alves went to take a corner kick. As he was preparing to take a kick, a fan from the stands threw a banana at Alves. Yes, you read that right. Disgusting act of racism, right? Don't worry though, Alves reacted in arguably the best way possible.


His act quickly spread on social media from one soccer fan to another. Then, his teammate, young soccer starlet Neymar, posted the following photo on Instagram.


He included four hashtags with the photo: "#somostodosmacacos," "#weareallmonkeys," "#somostodosmonos" and "#totssommonos." All four hashtags translate to 'we are all monkeys.'

Suddenly, player after player and team after team began posting their own #weareallmonkeys photos on social media.

With my colleague Marta from Brazil we say #NoToRacism. We are all equal. pic.twitter.com/0kWLsaAgwP
— Sergio Aguero (@aguerosergiokun) April 28, 2014

With my mate @Phil_Coutinho #SayNoToRacism #WeAreAllMonkeys pic.twitter.com/mY3W4GogqZ
— Luis Suarez (@luis16suarez) April 28, 2014

#SomosTodosMacacos pic.twitter.com/lgxJLBa9X0
— Corinthians Paulista (@Corinthians) April 28, 2014

Juventus #SayNoToRacism con @danistone25 @Asabob20 #Pogba #Giovinco (1/2) pic.twitter.com/tj0qZ8XfAJ
— JuventusFC (@juventusfc) April 29, 2014

Even the Maldivian national team are going bananas pic.twitter.com/Wgi1rA3LFu
— 101 Great Goals (@102greatgoals) April 29, 2014

#SayNoToRacism #weareallmonkeys #Schalke #S04 pic.twitter.com/scY5vkZaC4
— FC Schalke 04 (@s04) April 29, 2014

The movement initially looked like a great success, particularly for something as spontaneous as it was.

But, just as with David Ortiz's viral selfie with President Obama, it turns out to was not as spontaneous as it seemed. Turns out that Neymar himself, who has dealt with racist acts this season, actually hatched the idea to eat a banana that was thrown at him, with the help of some advisors, including Neymar's father.

Alves had the opportunity before Neymar did, and did not think twice about eating the thrown fruit. Neymar then took to Instagram to launch the campaign, including with the photos the hashtags that were actually planned out by a Brazilian marketing firm.

Guga Ketzer, who works at the marketing firm, said:

"Actions speak louder than words. A gesture needs no translation and what we’re seeing is that this has gone viral, globally. The concept was for Neymar to eat the banana, but in the end it was Alves, and that works just the same.
The best way to beat prejudice is to take the sting out of the action so it is not racist repeated. We created #weareallmonkeys #somostodosmacacos, with the gesture of eating a banana, and it has been turned into a movement."

More information can be found here.

The fact that the act and movement was preplanned should not diminish what Neymar and Alves have been able to accomplish. They have brought worldwide attention to the racism that still exists overseas. Working with a marketing firm certainly helped with the success of the #weareallmonkeys movement and should be something athletes consider doing more often in the future.

If the racist acts of this past weekend have done nothing else, they have reminded us that A. unfortunately, racism still exists. B. just how powerful social media can be when used correctly by opinion leaders and those with massive followings.

And for those wondering, the fan suspected of throwing the banana has been found and arrested.

The Right Way to Celebrate a Birthday

Birthdays are a big moment in anyone's life. Friends and family come together to celebrate the special day. Unless you are an athlete, in which case you also celebrate with the multitude of fans you have on social media. Most fans will wish 'Happy Birthday' via a post or tweet and never hear back from the athlete personally.

Of course, it is unreasonable to assume an athlete has the time to look through or respond to each birthday wish. So how can athletes use their birthday to help build their online brand with their fans?

Take a look at soccer/fútbol star Ricardo Kakà for inspiration.

The athlete celebrated his 32nd birthday earlier this week, and of course the birthday wishes came rolling in from all corners of the globe. But, someone on his social media team came up with a genius idea: have fans create birthday cards and submit them to be posted on Facebook to surprise the star with.

The idea was spread on his Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts and photos were posted in a Facebook album within minutes. As of this posting, there were more than 185 birthday cards wishing Kaka a happy birthday, varying from handwritten letters to various pieces of art.

Social media specialists can learn plenty from what the '#KKTeam' did. 

First off, post as many responses as possible. The more people involved in something like this, the greater the success. 

Second, and most importantly, make sure to monitor the responses before posting. As Mark Emmert and his team learned, such social media experiments can go downhill quickly. You need to make sure that you do not post anything negative and (preferably) avoid as many grammatical errors as possible. 

Finally, advertise as much as possible on as many venues as possible. Even if the event takes place on Facebook, try to find ways to spread the word on other social media sites as well. Talk about it on Twitter, Instagram, Google+, Reddit and everything in between. 

So, to summarize: monitor your responses, post or highlight as many as possible and advertise the event as much as you can. Thanks #KKTeam for the lesson. And a belated happy birthday to you Kakà.

Sideline Scoop: Embracing Social Media

There are always those who embrace change and those who fear it, looking to avoid it at all costs. Today's Sideline Scoop will take a look at two coaches representing both views and adding a new dimension to an already classic rivalry, how the NCAA is adapting to new developments in technology and social media, and some interesting stats from social media around the world.

1. Pitino, Calipari on opposite ends of social media spectrum

Louisville and Kentucky is one of the best rivalries in all of college basketball, pitting two of the more successful teams in college basketball history against each other as they share a state. So it only make sense that coaches from both teams take completely opposite views of social media. Louisville's Rick Pitino (on the left in the above photo), who could be seen as the "old school" coach, has actually banned his players from using Twitter and says that social media "poisons their minds." Meanwhile, Kentucky's John Calipari (on the right in the above photo), the most "new school" of the two coaches, openly embraces social media and wants to teach his players how to "use it as a positive."

2. NCAA to allow coaches to use SnapChat for recruiting

SnapChat is one of the biggest up-and-coming apps on smartphones today, allowing users to "take photos or videos and add text or drawing, then set an expiration for the message once it is opened." SnapChat now has a new use: As of Aug. 1, college coaches will be able to use it for recruiting purposes.

3. Who are the ultimate social media winners and losers?

Judging from social media, soccer/fútbol and basketball are the two most popular sports in the world and two retired basketball players remain among the most popular in the world. Find out more - including how local and club teams use social media and who has the most retweeted sports tweet - in this infographic.