RIDICULOUSLY over-excited about the World Cup kicking off at last later today.

Last weekend I saw my first car with those window flag thingys sticking out of it. This was in west London and the flags were… Italian.

While I realise that a great deal of plasticky tat of this ilk will be made in China, the same can’t be said for a host of other World Cup promos.

Also last weekend, I received some funny looks in the newsagent for taking pictures of the Saturday and Sunday papers replete with their many and various World Cup supplements. Rah!

Every supermarket I pass has banners outside promoting something or other to do with the World Cup, mostly involving promotions for beer, crisps and pizza. There's an immense amount of point-of-sale out there relating to it.

The most notable footy-related promo yet, though, has to be today’s monster giveaway by The Sun, which is in the process of delivering a special 24pp issue to every household in England.

Hat-tip to all involved at Newsprinters and its suppliers (am still awaiting info on the newsprint tonnage involved, ooof) for pulling this off.

I really do think that when big events like the World Cup are happening the power of print really shines through. Even in the face of all the digital interweb stuff, and World Cup apps and whatnot, you just can't beat the tangible.

What’s more, the Mars promo involving 500,000 personalised England shirts is yet another example of a huge brand harnessing the potential for personalised printed products. Next task, find out who’s printing those shirts.

I predict there will be more, much more of this sort of thing in future.

And talking of predictions, England to beat Italy 2-1. Gulp.