BUENOS AIRES, September 11, 2022 - On September 1st, only a few minutes after Argentina’s vice-president narrowly avoided an assassination attempt, one user ironically tweeted: “The things they are doing to cover up the lack of (World Cup) stickers. It’s getting so evident!”
Of course, this remark tried to be humorous, but it also reflected what was becoming the hot media topic of the week, the people’s frenzy to get the Panini stickers of the FIFA 2022 World Cup.
It’s no surprise that his tweet received more likes (47,000) than the ones of Argentina’s president, Alberto Fernandez, and the former president, Mauricio Macri, combined. Until that Thursday, every channel allocated a big part of the news section to air colour stories about the stickers.
NOT ENOUGH Introduced to the public two weeks ago, the stickers have created a chaotic World Cup fever, setting off street protests, a black market and conspiracy theories of all kinds.
The reason is quite simple – there are not enough stickers, and the experience of finding them has become an adventure, almost like an impossible mission. If two years ago the whole population was discussing Covid-19 vaccines, now the only matter of discussion seems to be World Cup stickers. Walk into any bar, get on a bus or try a family reunion and in a few minutes, the keywords will pop up. Figurines. It’s all about them.
Just as it happened with the pandemic, TV is filled with all-kinds of gurus, from real collectors to mathematicians, sharing tips and advice on how to complete the album, while couples become famous for a sticker argument or a leaked WhatsApp message over who has the right to open the packs.
SO MANY BIG PROBLEMS A member of the parliament, Roxana Reyes, was the subject of a prank that made her phone collapse. Someone published on a Facebook group her phone number supposedly selling the new hard-cover album and stickers at a discount price. “My phone is dead. The publication came from a ghost profile, and I had countless messages every day. I have nothing to do with the stickers. The country has so many big problems that I was unaware of the shortage of stickers,” she said.
Without political ties, another man suffered the practical joke of one of his friends, who leaked his phone number on WhatsApp with a message “Stickers $105, minimum 20 packs. Ask for Iair.” Iair’s desperation became viral in an audio message: “Who did this? I’m getting 60 new messages every minute asking for stickers. I had to turn my phone off. This can’t be happening!” After 4000 new chats, including people from Mexico and Israel, he had to change his line. The process affected his work, but at the same time gave him valuable time as an interviewee on radio and TV.
FRAUD AND SCAMS With the World Cup stickers booming, so did fraud and scams targeting credulous collectors willing to pay a sum in advance to secure the sought-after figuritas. Even the Prosecution Unit for Cyber Crimes (UFECI) had to make a statement warning about the proliferation of World Cup sticker scams in platforms such as Facebook’s Marketplace and advising the users to buy in physical stores.
But this is proving another adventure.
DON’T ASK Notices reading “No World Cup stickers. Don’t ask” are present in most of the kiosks, but the army of collectors, kids and adults alike, still think it’s worth a try to give it a shot. Some kiosks update these notices every day, but believers won’t want to read, they just want to ask, hoping for a positive answer.
A popular wholesale store for kiosks, El Emporio de las Golosinas, had to implement security measures to contain the World Cup fever. People are queuing all night just to get a chance to buy when the store opens at 9 am. Daniel, owner of a kiosk since last year, arrives every morning at 5 and tries to buy what’s available.
The wholesale packs have 25 envelopes of five stickers each, but in less than one hour, they are all gone. “For retail we have the rule of a maximum of 10 envelopes per person, which also applies to family members and friends,” he says.
The street surrounding El Emporio is now filled with lines and loud morning arguments. “Several people line up but then, before the store opens, some of their friends show up and they try to enter together, jumping the queues.” Some of these arguments ended in punches thrown, an employee admits. “Now we even have to ask about the kiosk's legal deed, because there were many wanting to buy wholesale for their private collections, or to resell. Still, with this rule, there are many who bring in forged certificates of ownership just to buy the stickers.”
In platforms such as MercadoLibre, the Argentinian version of eBay, a sticker of Messi can be sold for as much as 2,500 pesos, while regular, non-open envelopes are offered three to four times more of their retail value.
PROTESTS The Argentinian Kiosk Union (UKRA), which represents more than 1,200 kiosks in the country, made a statement warning that the chain of commercialisation is “completely broken” and warning 50% rises in the suggested retail value.
Dozens of members of the UKRA marched and protested at the gates of Panini company, as they were denouncing the shortage and the hoarding of stock for alternative channels, such as supermarkets and petrol stations. “We, the ones that sell all kinds of Panini products since January to December, are simply demanding to have the proper stock of World Cup stickers, which is now allocated to newcomers like supermarkets, delivery apps and petrol station, that will vanish once the World Cup is over,” complained Nestor Palacios, vice-president of UKRA.
It is a protest that can only be matched by taxi drivers complaining about Uber, and that ended with a plea to Argentina’s president Alberto Fernandez and vice-president Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, to complain about the company’s policy. “They are destroying retail commerce in this country. Please, do something,” read the statement.
The letter to Panini was more intimidating. “Stop giving away stickers to supermarkets, delivery platforms and petrol stations that did not commercialise your products in the last four years. Patience is running low, so is tolerance!”
OUT OF STOCK At shopping mall Unicenter, in the outskirts of Buenos Aires, a balloon and candy stall covertly sells envelopes for 250 pesos, while the real price is 150. Still, often they are out of stock.
A marriage party became national news as part of the celebration involved throwing stickers like confetti, with attendants frantically picking them up from the dance floor. What started as something positive ended with a witch-hunt for the organisers – how and where did they get all those stickers from?
A small town in Rio Negro, Fernandez Oro organised a non-commercial fair for September 17, in order to promote the free trade of stickers given the current shortage. “Money transactions are strictly forbidden,” reads one of the rules.
The company made a short statement asking for patience and explaining they are working non-stop to satisfy the demand. If what they wanted is to have the whole country speaking about them, they succeeded. But with more protests set to take place the following days, it’s better that they start providing stock.
Time is ticking and the World Cup sticker campaign is proving to be a disaster, but there is still hope among collectors. “Just as it happens in football, in order to win you need to sweat and suffer,” says Lucas, who has 157 stickers and is eagerly waiting to trade Japan’s Yuta Nakatama for any of the Saudi players.
“Years before, the only way to complete the album was to meet with people to trade figurines, but now there are a lot of different channels bringing new opportunities. I follow a lead, if someone that knows someone has spare stickers, I need to know which ones. You have to be active, you can’t just sit and think that you will buy all the packs until completing the album.”
“NO MORE STICKERS AVAILABLE" Nicolas, 45, managed to get the scope from the kiosk he usually visits. “The owner created a WhatsApp group for customers so he could announce when the stickers arrive,” he explains. At 18:41 of a Thursday, he receives one message. “Stickers now in stock. We don’t book in advance, come and get them here.” Exactly 13 minutes later, while Nicolas was eagerly rushing to the kiosk, a new message was received. “No more stickers available.”
Tomorrow he might have to be quicker.
