The Despicable Vuvuzela: Pros and Cons

[caption id="attachment_191092" align="alignleft" width="284" caption="There's none deafening like these combined.."][/caption] Like no other, vuvuzela never stops stirring controversies since the first day when the World Cup 2010 began. Some soccer fans adore the African horn, while the rest simply think it's not even worth blowing. It's noisy, distracting, and producing monotonous 'sound' that a classical music lover will find unclassy.  Don't believe me, see for yourself. Vuvuzela Being Dissected How much are you familiar with this 'trumpet'? A vuvuzela measures 65 cm long but the length may vary up to 100 cm. Perhaps some details in the following may bring you closer to vuvuzela, up close and personal. I'm not by no means a musician (either amateurish or professional) but I've got to tell you that the standard pitch of a vuvuzela is B flat. Don't bother asking me how to write the key. It doesn't take a musical school graduate from some university in Europe to blow vuvuzela, so you'll be fine. Blow it like you blow the new year's eve trumpet. It's assumed that the horn is of highly disputable origin. It reportedly possesses a controversial legacy and there have been a numerous number of claims made pertaining to where it's actually from. Vuvuzela used to be blown to summon villagers to meetings. Besides, the annoying noise of vuvuzela proves to be really effective in scaring away baboons. Yes, you're right, those not-even-close-to-humanoids baboons who have no musical taste loathe vuvuzelas, which is why I don't get why some people love blowing it. For the marketing purpose in Cape Town, the gigantic Korean automotive corporation - Hyundai - created the biggest vuvuzela just to attract the whole world's attention as the building process got finished. By length, the giant vuvuzela reaches 115 feet. And what sounds more ridiculous to me, the vuvuzela can be 'blown' simply by sending a short message. I mean, seriously?? Vuvuzela (made from plastic) was produced at mass scale at the first time by Neil Van Schalkwyk in 2001. Vuvuzela and Economic Boosts Some Chinese manufacturers claim that 90% of the vuvuzelas blown at World Cup 2010 matches were made in China. There're two China provinces which are assumed to have produced vuvuzelas: Guangdong and Zhejiang. These are two coastal areas where plants and factories are scattered everywhere just like mushrooms in the dampest wet season. In China, a vuvuzela is sold as much as $ 0.3. Very cheap, indeed. But after being exported, one must buy it $7.8 for each. That means 26 times the original price!!! Vuvuzela manufacturers should go rich by now, certainly. But that's not what happens. Allegedly, the Chinese manufacturers' profit margin only less than 5%. What a pity! The average price of a vuvuzela which is bought from a street vendor may be around $3.04. In the kingdom where Queen Elizabeth II reigns, vuvuzelas are sold in retailers of Sainbury. And guess what? There were 22,000 red vuvuzelas sold in the 12 hours before the England team versus the U.S. match. In other words, one vuvuzela is sold every two seconds. Quite an impressive sale! To add, the vuvuzela market is worth $6.5 million in South Africa and Europe. The Hateful yet Invicible Vuvuzela With all due respect to African heritage and culture, there're so many proofs out there why I and a lot of other people think our 'dear' vuvuzela is the nastiest musical instrument ever. These points may justify the hatred towards vuvuzela. Don't you know that vuvuzelas blown by spectators may produce noise as deafening as 130 decibels? Compared to a chainsaw, the noise intensity of vuvuzela is considerably higher. A chainsaw causes noise with an average intensity of 100 decibels.  These levels of noise intensity , some scientists state, could trigger hearing loss which occurs permanently only within 15 minute time frame. If that doesn't sound like a convincing argument, here's another reason why you should stay away from noisy vuvuzelas. Studies apparently have revealed that vuvuzelas DO spread colds and flu germs. Regardless of this scientific evidence, vuvuzela seems to fail in winning a lot of soccer fans' hearts. There have been 545 complaints sent by the avid fans of football to the BBC through June 15, 2010. So glad we're not the only one. In addition to it, votes on a site named www.banvuvuzela.com showed there're 93.521 people against the use of vuvuzelas inside a stadium where a match is taking place. Alas, all the possible efforts are made to get rid of these ugly-sounded vuvuzelas but are still fruitless up to this second. Busting Vuvuzelas Once and For All Thanks to the noise caused by vuvuzelas, another profitable business opportunity arises. So far, there have been two big earplug suppliers in Africa, i.e. ear Plugs Online and Sheppard Medical. The days of Word Cup 2010 have witnessed the soaring sales of Ear Plugs Online, which reaches 121%. In the mean time, Sheppard Medical has sold more than 400,000 ear plugs since the kick-off match. P.S.: My first and last post on World Cup 2010... Reference: vuvuzela