Our Vuvuzelas, Ourselves

Crowd noise is nothing new at soccer matches. And the same goes for the long trumpet-like plastic instrument South African soccer fans call “vuvuzela.” Yet the horn’s indiscriminate – indeed, overwhelming – use at World Cup matches sparked controversy: Even as some Germans want to ban the “mood killer” and French TV viewers can digitally filter out the “stadium tinnitus,” Chinese distributors expect new global demand for vuvuzelas after a raucous display at the international soccer tournament. Demand is on the rise in the United States, where the long horns most recently made their way into Boston's Fenway Park; Europe, where British supermarket giant Sainsbury's reports being unable to meet public demand; and China, where up to 90 percent of the vuvuzelas sold during the World Cup are made. So many vuvuzelas in one place attracted instant global attention, and the horns could play a prominent note in future gatherings. – YaleGlobal