The World Cup has elicited emotion not only among Costa Rican fans, but also among dozens of businesses that raised their spending on publicity and launched diverse projects to coincide with the tournament.
According to data from the firm Media Guru, which released a study on publicity related to the World Cup, the amount of money spent on publicity in Costa Rica between January and May of this year reached $4.5 million, a record sum.
The biggest advertisers so far have been the state-owned Banco Nacional de Costa Rica, which spent more than $411,000, and Coca-Cola, which spent $332,000.
However,World Cup fever has also been contagious among businesses including McDonald’s, Burger King, ice-cream shops, banks, clothing shops and some appliance stores, who have seen sales – especially of televisions – shoot up.