Will the Real Vuvuzela Please Stand Up?
Just think—if international vuvuzela innovator Neil Van Schalkwyk had not scored a goal for his Cape Town youth team, and noticed someone in the crowd blowing a tin-like horn, the world might not now be aware of the ubiquitous vuvuzela horn dominating coverage at the World Cup in South Africa this week.
It’s this experience that inspired Schalkwyk to innovate the horn and create a business out of it.
“That’s the moment that really stuck in my head,” he said Thursday at a modest press conference held near the Cape Town waterfront.
Of course, he makes no claims to be the inventor, as people have been blowing horns ceremoniously and otherwise since almost the dawn of time, but he can now officially claim to have revenue of over a million dollars in vuvuzela sales.
It may have also helped that Schalkwyk worked in a plastic factory, and was therefore able to utilize necessary materials. After working hours he would work on the design at home.
“"I lost a lot of sleep. Now, my apologies to those who are visiting that are losing a bit of sleep," the 37 year old said, referring to the sound of the vuvuzela which can be heard deep in the night in Cape Town.
Sales began in 2000, "I lost a lot of sleep," the 37-year old Van Schalkwyk said. "Now, my apologies to those who are visiting that they are losing a bit of sleep," as the sound of the trumpets can be heard deep in the Cape Town nights.
Sales began in 2000 and started slowly, with only 500 units sold the first year. But with the Confederations Cup last year, and now the World Cup, they have taken off. Can Schalwyk figured if you could mass produce something that cost very little to make, it might take off in Africa.
His company now claims about 25 per cent of the market, and has done to date over a million dollars of business. It likewise holds patent rights only to the name (origins of the word vuvuzela’ are unclear) when it’s stamped on the product, due to the fact that “a trumpet is a trumpet and has been around for centuries.” His company Masincedane Sport trademark protects the name "vuvuzela", and defines the term as "to sprinkle you, to shower you with noise."
Dictionaries take note.
There is also a large and growing market for ‘fake’ vuvuzelas or rip offs of the original. One of the ways Schalkwyk has sought to combat this is by including earplugs and refining the mouthpiece of his product to be ‘easy on the lips’.
At this point there is little denying the vuvuzela craze. It’s become everything from an object of intense hatred (many fans saying it drowns out soccer games), to one invested with heritage and cultural value, to a widespread online meme, appearing on sites like youtube and twitter.
Amidst flurries of hate and disdain for the soun, Nobel Peace Prize winner Desmond Tutu recently came out in defence of the vuvuzela that has come to define the Cup. Reflecting on this Van Schalkwyk said: "It is amazing to see how it has transcended all levels of society. I mean that Archbishop Desmond Tutu can actually come out and defend it, considering all the criticism. Out of respect for the way that we celebrate football, people should also take that into consideration."
Though hot today, it is unclear where all of the vuvuzela fervor will be in a year or two—many can’t wait to see the object should be put in the cultural closet.
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