Landon Donovan advertisement asks fans to root for Mexico in the World Cup, and fans did not take it well

Cork Gaines

Jun 16, 2018, 22:31 IST

Landon Donovan advertisement asks fans to root for Mexico in the World Cup, and fans did not take it well

Landon Donovan did a sponsored post on social media for Wells Fargo asking American soccer fans to root for the Mexican National Team at the World Cup.
Donovan is holding a scarf that reads, "MY OTHER TEAM IS MEXICO."
Mexico is viewed as the US team's biggest rival and Donovan has been a huge part of that rivalry.
Fans reacted to the post with almost universal condemnation, even from supporters of Mexico.

With the U.S. Men's National Team not in the World Cup, one tactic being used by advertisers is to promote the support of other countries to get Americans more interested in the tournament.

This approach may have backfired for Wells Fargo and Landon Donovan.

In a sponsored post on multiple social media platforms, Donovan asked American fans to support their biggest rival at the World Cup, the Mexican National Team.

Twitter/Landon Donovan

The rivalry on the pitch between the U.S. and Mexico and has been fierce, and at times ugly, and Donovan has been the face of the American side during many of those contests over the last two decades.

It became so ugly that Mexican supporters threw beer bottles, trash, coins, batteries, and even bags of urine at Donovan. The latter of which was likely a reaction to the infamous incident in which Donovan was caught urinating on the field at Stadium Jalisco.

Donald Miralle/Getty Images

Landon Donovan asking Americans to root for Mexico is like Derek Jeter asking New York Yankees fans to root for the Boston Red Sox in the World Series just because the Yankees missed the playoffs entirely and just because a sponsor told him to do it.

Donovan did recently come out of retirement to play for the Mexican Liga MX side Club León. Still, the reaction from the fans was almost universal condemnation. Here are a few of the printable replies.