Tottenham ‘gloss over’ online jokes by sponsors Dulux
➤ New deal marred by mocking of defence and lack of trophies ➤ Paint firm apologises as club tries to make light of PR stunt
Tottenham Hotspur were caught up in a social media fiasco yesterday as paint firm Dulux mocked the club on Twitter after being unveiled as a sponsor.
Misjudged jokes about the team’s defensive record and lack of trophies prompted an immediate apology from the company.
The trouble started yesterday morning just minutes after pictures of the firm’s shaggy Old English Sheepdog mascot in the club’s stadium were posted online to announce a new commercial partnership.
Dulux then struck the wrong tone by responding with a host of subsequently deleted tweets, including a picture of an empty trophy cabinet being up for sale.
The company also joked that the Dulux dog “might do a better job” than the Spurs defence.
The company issued an apology in the afternoon, saying it was “deeply sorry” for the posts.
It tweeted: “These do not reflect how proud we are to be the official paint supplier of the club. We’re investigating what happened and apologise to all Spurs fans.”
Tottenham said in response that “we’ll gloss over it this time”, while further making light of the situation by tweeting a picture of defender Matt Doherty with the Dulux dog Photoshopped on to his face. The picture in question was taken from a video of the defender sheepishly deleting old pro-arsenal tweets after signing for Spurs from Wolves, which went viral last year.
Manager Jose Mourinho last night insisted he was unaware of the Dulux furore, but suggested that “maybe it is an amazing strategy move” by the company to get attention.
“Maybe if I am going to criticise something and then I realise it was a strategic commercial or situation, then I would be in a bad position,” he added. “I don’t know. But in any case, it is not a football-related thing and I don’t know.”
Last month, Tottenham goalkeeper Joe Hart issued an apology to supporters after he posted a celebratory graphic saying “Job done” after Spurs’ Europa League exit. The goalkeeper, who blamed his social media team, said sorry to supporters in a video on Instagram, adding he had “nothing but love for the club”.
Spurs said that through their partnership with Dulux, the club would “benefit from the unrivalled expertise in paint and colour” of the country’s leading paint supplier, with all club buildings getting a facelift using specific paint colour matches.
Fans of other clubs seemed to enjoy the intervention by Dulux’s social media team.
“The Dulux admin is a national hero,” wrote one. “Nothing but Dulux for me from now on.”
And even some Spurs fans saw the funny side, one tweeting: “They were funny and people are overreacting, really not a big deal. Please don’t sack who was responsible, they don’t deserve it.”