FIFA 2010 World Cup: Vuvuzela manufacturer expanding market
The South African tycoon Van Schalkywk, who has become a millionaire by selling thousand's of vuvuzela’s, is hitting back at critics who’ve blamed the controversial horn, by stating that he is ready to supply them for the next English Premier League season.
Tens of thousands of these horns have been bought from shops including various online shopping stores.
And as the Premier League has confirmed that there are not going to follow the German Bundesliga by introducing a blanket ban on the horns, Mr van Schalkywk says that he is ready to supply it to the UK market.
The thunderous monotonous buzzing sound produced by vuvuzela’s resembles a stampede of elephants to the naked ear. On television, the horn sounds like a massive swarm of bees. For reasons of broadcasting and communication, the vuvuzela’s have often been the centre of complain by players, supporters, broadcasters and viewers.
To the point that a British television is considering a commentary service which would be vuvuzela-free for viewers due to the humungous number of complaints they have been receiving.
Schalkywk claimed, “Songs and chants are a big part of the game for some people, but the vuvuzela is the big part of our game in South Africa and it's been like that for the past 15 years or so, so out of respect for the way we celebrate football, I think people should take that into consideration”.
Players have complained that the sound levels make on-field communication very difficult.
Lionel Messi said that it was “impossible to communicate, it's like being deaf”, while Cristiano Ronaldo complained, “Hardly anyone likes them”.
Supporters have been warned about the potential dangers of over-exposure to the vuvuzela’s, with the plastic instrument being found to be louder than both a chainsaw and a lawnmower.
Schalkywk also said, “There has been lots of interest from the UK market,” he said.
There are concerns that safety announcements will not be heard in the stadia due to the noise that these instrument generate.
Tests and research by leading companies have revealed that the sound produced by vuvuzela’s reaches an astounding 127 decibels, about 30 decibels above the normal hearing limit.
A person's hearing is put at risk by prolonged exposure to sounds louder than 85 decibels, where as hearing damage can occur only after just 15 minutes of exposure to volume levels of 100 decibels or more.
Till now, there are no plans as such to ban the vuvuzela from the grounds in South Africa.
A lot is being said about how horrific the sounds of vuvuzela’s are and how they’re ruining South Africa 2010’s watching experience for people all around.
But in return, Schalkywk says that even though before the vuvuzela became so common, people used to sing a lot. It is a multi-cultural society in South Africa with 11 different languages and certain songs are not understood by everyone. But the vuvuzela is understood by everyone and is believed to be the 12th language.
Mr van Schalkywk has also revealed that he has been in talks with Brazilian companies over a possible vuvuzela to be mass produced at the 2014 World Cup. He said, “We are hoping we have the blessing from FIFA”.
But not only is the vuvuzela damaging your hearing but it is dangerous for your throat as well.
Yvonne a woman from Cape Town had never blown a vuvuzela before she received one at work and was going to see the first South Africa match and she took it along and on route to the match she tried it out for the first time and she blew as hard as she can.
Her throat started hurting. She claimed, “At first I thought I’d gone down with a bug but the next day it was worse. When I went to the doctor he took a look and then laughed”.
She had ruptured her throat and specialists said an initial tear in her throat caused by air pressure had grown into a wound due to her constant blowing.
Experts predict that thousands of people blowing the vuvuzela during World Cup matches need to stop doing it right away as they are in potential danger of rupturing their throat as well.
Experts say that a throat rupturing epidemic is on the way. People need to understand how dangerous these things really are, as blowing these horns and producing such loud sounds is harmful to themselves and the people around them and not to mention a nuisance for the players and the viewers all over the world.
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