Dulux red-faced over Spurs’ ‘dusty trophy cabinet’
TOTTENHAM were embarrassed by their new sponsors Dulux — minutes after the company had been unveiled as the club’s official paint supplier yesterday. Twitter users were quick to mock the north London club after the new commercial partnership was announced in the morning. But Dulux themselves joined in the mickey-taking with claims that their famous Old English Sheepdog mascot ‘might do a better job’ at centre half than some of Tottenham’s out-of-form defenders and that they would be unable to give a new coat to the club’s trophy cabinet as ‘surfaces should be dustfree before painting’. Dulux later apologised for their social media team’s messages, confirming plans to investigate the tweets that ‘do not reflect how proud we are to be the Official Paint Supplier of the club’. At least Tottenham, without a trophy since 2008, saw the funny side of the incident, replying that they were happy to ‘gloss over it this time’.
JOSE MOURINHO’S task when he took over at Tottenham was simple enough: give this fading squad a new lick of paint and redecorate the club’s dusty trophy cabinet. Detractors will claim he’s managed little more than a slapdash job so far. Negative football, like watching paint dry and all that. It turns out, however, that few critics carry as much bite as the club’s own partners. Yesterday, Tottenham announced that Dulux had become their first-ever ‘official paint supplier’. ‘The relationship will see us benefit from the unrivalled expertise in paint and colour that Dulux provides,’ proudly boasted the club. Dulux’s iconic mascot, a shaggy Old English Sheepdog called Madison, was given a tour of the club’s stadium and, soon, Dulux’s social media team were running amok, too. When Twitter users used the new partnership to poke fun at Tottenham’s failings — ‘paw timing’ was among the predictable jibes — Dulux were only too happy to join the pile-on. After one fan suggested they paint the club’s trophy cabinet, Dulux’s official account replied: ‘Don’t be silly, surfaces should be dust-free before painting.’ After another said they should use the cabinet to store tins of paint ‘as we don’t seem to put anything in there’, the company mockedup a photo of an empty glass cabinet with Spurs’ logo alongside the caption: ‘For sale: unused trophy cabinet.’ Then, when jokingly asked: ‘Can the dog play centre back?’ the company replied: ‘He might do a better job.’ The tweets were soon deleted and, by the evening, Dulux issued an apology — tail firmly between their legs. ‘We’re deeply sorry for the posts from Dulux this morning in response to the announcement of our relationship with @SpursOfficial,’ tweeted the same account. ‘We’re investigating what happened and apologise to all Spurs fans.’ Spurs tried to make light of the whole affair, replying to the apology by saying: ‘We’ll gloss over it this time...’ Asked about it ahead of tonight’s clash with Everton — a huge game in the battle for the top four — Mourinho was unaware of the whole affair. ‘I don’t know what you are speaking about but maybe it is an amazing strategy move,’ he said. It was certainly an odd one.