The worst World Cup ball ever (Patreon)

Hello, it's Seth! This episode of Big Deal is about the Jabulani. It was the 2010 World Cup soccer ball, and it was not popular. The qualities that made it unpopular are well-documented and discussed within, but I left this piece mostly thinking about WHY the Jabulani came into existence.

To me, it's a classic example of a big company tweaking its product simply for the sake of tweaking. Adidas had the iconic soccer ball design, but they messed with it just so they could dangle novelty in front of consumers. Real "fuck everything, we're doing five blades" moves from a corporation that would have been better off making subtle, below-the-surface changes to one of the most familiar designs on the planet.

I think that's dumb! If you've got a good thing, keep it! You can still make a lot of money boasting about the good thing! Just my opinion!