Al Qaeda: Back to the drawing board

Italian central defender and head-drum Marco Materazzi now acknowledges he did provoke French soccer legend Zinedine Zidane with an insult. What insult? We still don't know:

"I did insult him, it's true," Materazzi said in Tuesday's Gazzetta dello Sport. "But I categorically did not call him a terrorist. I'm not cultured and I don't even know what an Islamic terrorist is.

Wow.

What a surprising blow for brand Islamic terrorism. Previously, industry analysts had been praising their every move. They were often cited as experts in getting themselves exposure through television and seemed to have mastered the nuances of the internet. Street teams, T-shirts, placards, video games --that's textbook messaging.

They did this all despite behind-the-scene whispers from the "old school" that just a bombing campaign would be plenty.

Now they learn they didn't even break the mass market in Italy. A country that perpetually insults the Islamic world with the bottom of its boot.

Sure, there is something to be said about sneaking up, but in the terror game name recognition is paramount.

It looks like it's back to the drawing board for bin Laden and the boys.

Sports drink? Rock concert sponsorship? BCS bowl?