SOUTH AFRICA: FOOTBALL/SOCCER - WORLD CUP 2010 - Shopping malls ban vuvuzelas but the din proves a boon for earplug vendors

Record ID: 452998

  • Title: SOUTH AFRICA: FOOTBALL/SOCCER - WORLD CUP 2010 - Shopping malls ban vuvuzelas but the din proves a boon for earplug vendors
  • Date: 18th June 2010
  • Summary: OUTSIDE OF SHOP
  • Embargoed: 3rd July 2010 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: South Africa
  • Country: South Africa
  • Topics: Light / Amusing / Unusual / Quirky,Sports
  • Reuters ID: LVA5DPZHJ47P8L4HOQ1ULIUJ9VD5
  • Story Text: Love them or hate them - but South Africa's vuvuzelas are here to stay, reaping profits for shops selling ear protectors.
    As the wail of vuvuzelas continues, so do the complaints against the plastic trumpets.
    Organisers say the instruments won't be banned from the World Cup, but the cacophony is becoming an issue in public places and are causing a run on earplugs as South Africans fret about their hearing.
    The incessant blasting of the plastic trumpets has become the unofficial World Cup soundtrack, but the vuvuzelas are unpopular both with players on the pitch and certain fans trying to listen to the match.
    Vuvuzelas have been controversial since the Confederations Cup last year, a World Cup dress rehearsal, when several players complained they could not communicate through the racket.
    FIFA President Sepp Blatter also rejected calls for them to be banned, saying they are as typical of South African football as bongo drums or chants in other countries.
    But even the South Africans themselves are starting to tire of the incessant drone.
    "I had to buy the ear plugs because the vuvuzelas make such a lot of noise, it's so deafening and hurts the ears, so this is protection against the ears," said Roy Santos.
    While the plastic trumpets are proving popular in the shops, shopping malls are banning the blowing of vuvzelas for disturbing customers.
    The vogue for vuvuzelas is also proving a boon for earplug vendors too as South Africans rush to protect their hearing and get a good night's sleep.
    "We've really had a big call for the headphones and for the ear plugs for the vuvuzelas the noise that it makes. We anticipated this was going to happen because last year for the Confederations Cup we had people asking for them so we stocked up, we've had an enormous amount of sales, they've been flying off the shelves and really it was a good buy, it was well anticipated," said one vendor, Trini.
    The Hear the World Foundation -- an initiative formed by Swiss hearing products group Phonak to raise awareness about hearing loss -- said tests showed it produced a dangerously loud sound, far out-blasting a chainsaw.
    The tests, conducted late last month in a sound-proof studio, found the vuvuzela emitted 127 decibels, more than the air horn -- 123.5 decibels -- and the Brazil's samba drums.
    A referee's whistle was fourth while the cowbell, a favourite in Switzerland and Austria, trailed at 114.9 decibels.
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