LONDON: Formula One Licensing, F1’s branding department, has been granted a trademark registration to the word ‘Shoey’ by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), according to a report in the UK’s Independent.
Shoey refers to a podium celebration of drinking champagne from a shoe. The word has been registered in 25 countries including the United States, Germany, Italy, France and the United Kingdom where it came into force on 4 January this year.
The Shoey was most recently seen earlier this month when Red Bull Racing driver Daniel Ricciardo won the Chinese Grand Prix. The Australian is famous for celebrating in this way on the podium and has even got celebrities including Sir Patrick Stewart and Gerard Butler to drink champagne from his shoe after winning races.
The registration is only for one category but it’s a crucial one as it covers flasks, glasses, bottles, mugs, sculptures and figurines. So it is a great opportunity to leverage for branding strategists since something on the lines of shoe-shaped beer steins and drinking trophies could be up for sale in coming months, the UK daily reports.
It would fit with F1’s drive to boost its merchandise range and appeal to a younger audience. It is being spearheaded by the sport’s new owner Liberty Media which bought F1 for £5.8bn in January last year. Since then it has attempted to rev up F1’s image by rebranding it and giving it more razzmatazz, most memorably by hiring boxing announcer Michael Buffer to introduce the names of the drivers at last year’s US Grand Prix.
The Shoey has been a popular celebration in Australia for around 15 years thanks to surfing and fishing brand, The Mad Hueys. Dean and Shaun Harrington, known as the face of this brand, have been quoted saying they drunk Shoeys as early as 2002. As The Mad Hueys accelerated in popularity more personalities got in on the act with Ricciardo being one of the latest.
