They may be unwelcome to many, but the notorious vuvuzela is selling well in Britain’s third-largest supermarket chain.

Sainsbury’s said yesterday that World Cup memorabilia, in particular the plastic vuvuzela horn, were all showing strong sales in spite of the slow group sales seen over the first quarter of 2010.

In a trading update, Sainsbury’s Chief Executive Justin King called the vuvuzela horn ‘the must have item’ for any true football fan. The group says that it has already sold over 40,000 of the vuvuzelas with English branding at a cost of just £2 each. It is forecasting this number to double by the end of the tournament, with the number potentially becoming greater should England embark on a run to the semi-finals or further.

Anyone who has watched the opening games of the World Cup can attest that the monotone drone of the vuvuzela has become the soundtrack to the tournament, something which has irritated television broadcasters who complain that the noise drowns out the commentary and action. Some players have also used the horns as an excuse for claiming they could not hear the ref’s whistle, although the Greek team has taken to inviting vuvuzela groups to play at training to customize themselves to match day conditions.

One of the world’s leading retailers is forecasting a run on products in its international stores should those countries make the World Cup play-offs.

Wal-Mart operates in eight of the 32 nations that have made it to the FIFA World Cup 2010 in South Africa, and is bracing itself for a boom if the national football team is successful.

Rick Bendel, the international chief marketing officer for Wal-Mart, said that revenue at outlets which had been in operation for a minimum of 12 months before the finals could anticipate a growth of between two and four per cent – with an additional one to two per cent expected if the national team makes the semi-finals.

Bendel said the tournament was a huge television event, and products associated with television such as TV sets, couches, food, drinks and memorabilia would all expect to sell heavily over the tournament. Bendel also suggested that in the UK Asda, which operates under the parentage of Wal-Mart, could benefit from extra revenue in the hundreds of millions of pounds.

FIFA have signed an exclusive agreement for World Cup merchandise with Wal-Mart through a subsidiary, leaving the retailer in the prime position of being able to capitalise on sales of items such as official footballs, beer mugs and plates.

Wal-Mart has stores in 14 countries outside of its US home, with Brazil, Argentina, Japan and Mexico all featuring at the World Cup, while the English team is sponsored by rival supermarket giant Tesco.

Young England winger Theo Walcott was dramatically dropped from the World Cup squad yesterday, much to the disappointment of the marketing team at Marks & Spencer.

Walcott, 21, was one of the faces in a multi-million pound advertising campaign for the tournament, with most people assuming he had already booked his ticket to South Africa. He, along with Matthew Upson, Steven Gerrard and Emile Heskey, is part of a series of ads where he dons Nike sportswear and Marks & Spencer designer suits.

Unfortunately, England manager Fabio Capello telephoned the Arsenal forward during a round of golf with the shock news that he was not part of the final 23-man travelling squad. Though included in the initial 30-man group, Walcott can consider himself unlucky to be one of the ‘sorry seven’ that missed the final cut. He was joined by Scott Parker, Tom Huddlestone, Darren Bent, Adam Johnson, Michael Dawson and Leighton Baines.

Marks & Spencer, one of the official sponsors for the English World Cup team, has designed the £120 grey suits which will not make an appearance in the Walcott wardrobe. Hopefully he did manage to land some gear from Nike, who actually made a TV campaign which shows Walcott playing in the finals. He had also had his face ‘carved’ by Nike onto a huge billboard in West London that echoes Mount Rushmore.