The idea was to show what Batistuta, who owns a cattle ranch
near his home town of Reconquista, north of Buenos Aires, might have
been if he had failed to make the grade as a professional footballer.
He arrived at the abattoir with his agents who took one look at
the hanging carcasses and decided that, by agreeing to appear in the
commercial, 'Batigol' might be in breach of another sponsorship contract
with the Argentine Beef Association
Batistuta would have been filmed with Italian rather than
Argentine beef!
The film shoot was scrapped and Batistuta returned to nearby
Florence, which is famous in Italy for its juicy, extra thick steaks.
"Bati and his agents turned up, took a look around, talked to
the film crew for a while and then left," a bewildered slaughterhouse
worker said. A spokesman for the sponsor involved said it was a simple case
of misunderstanding.
"We sent the script to Batistuta's management and they gave it
their general approval but it seems that when they got to the shoot
there were one or two things they were not comfortable with," the
spokesman said.
"Anyway, we've tweaked the script a little and we are hoping to
go ahead with the shoot in the near future."
Date: April 11-24, 1998
Source: Football World
Transcribed by: Maj-Britt
Bati Gets The Beef
Fiorentina striker Gabriel Batistuta cancelled a film shoot in an
abattoir because of a dispute over contracts and cow carcasses.
The Argentine World Cup player had agreed to pose as a worker in
a slaughterhouse as part of a television publicity campaign for one of
his sponsors.