Chinese brand Hisense who has been splashing marketing dollars at the 2022 Qatar World Cup have been forced to stop displaying pitch advertising during major games that claimed that they are #1 in China and #2 in the world in the TV market following complaints that the claims were not true.

Hisense whose TV market share in Australia has fallen up against Samsung and LG was forced to remove the pitch display advertising, over criticism from both competitors and advertising standards board that the information being pitched to consumers was “inaccurate”,

Hisense switched to a new message: “Made in China, let’s work hard together.”

Another problem for Hisense was that the advertising allegedly violated advertising regulations in China.

The banner ad with the phrase “China comes first, the world comes second was run during major games at the FIFA World Cup stadium in Qatar.

Apparently, the phrase “China comes first” has violated the domestic advertising regulations in China.

According to the Advertising Law of the People’s Republic of China, advertisements placed in China should not contain words such as “state level”, “highest level” or “the best”.

Hisense and Chinese brands are among the biggest spenders at the soccer tournament in Qatar, surpassing the U.S.

The biggest advertiser at the World Cup is Wanda Group who in June 2015, acquired cinema chain Hoyts. They also own millions of dollars’ worth of property in Sydney.

They also have major investments in technology and appliances.

At this World Cup, Wanda, is one of the seven FIFA partners.

Another major investor in the soccer World Cup is smartphone Company Vivo who are currently under investigation in India for money laundering. ChannelNews recently revealed that shipments of Vivo products had recently been seized in India where several of their smartphones are manufactured.

Late last week Indian authorities released nearly 27,000 Vivo Mobile Communications smartphones for export after withholding the shipment for more than a week over alleged rule violations and claims that the wholesale price of the devices was fabricated.