This really annoys me (that sound you hear is me stretching to get on my high horse) - here is a picture of the US Soccer team’s away jersey from just a few years ago: 

Here is the away jersey the women are now sporting in the current world cup:

Notice anything peculiar?

Reminds me of an informal survey someone I know either took or told me about wherein an email went out asking, male and female alike, given a choice between two potential people to date, and both are equal in all ways - attractiveness, intellect, sense of humor, interests, income, articulation… loves puppies, remembers birthdays, can cook, never dated Lindsey Lohan or Brody Jenner, etc. – but the main difference is that one would call themselves patriotic, and the other would not. Resoundingly, by a wide and long margin, the un-patriotic person was preferable.

I don’t know why, as I would not label myself patriotic or unpatriotic, rather “adequately patriotic”, but maybe my reaction to the above (or that it elicited a reaction at all), sways me in one direction or the other.

The net here (requisite marketing spin): consumers typically associate your brand or product with the colors you’ve invested time and energy to make them build an association with. No need to over think.

Maybe the uniform “deciders” didn’t want possible negative global reaction to US Foreign policy to affect the good and talented women in the tournament.

However, replacing it with a color (GOLD!) that possibly represents the most negative world perception about our domestic policy (namely, that they think we are all rich and lazy) is just maybe short sighted.

We might as well play in Cowboy hats.

The actual cowboy kind, not the Bon Jovi kind.