When Reebok put those crap t-shirts to print, they can't possibly have thought they'd get such a reaction. Or maybe they did and they just like to see us Irish lose the run of ourselves for the fun of it. All publicity is good publicity after all.
Maybe not. In reality, it was obviously just a careless decision that blew up in their face big time. When John Kavanagh threatened to pull the plug on the much hyped deal with SBG, Reebok obviously took notice. The offending t-shirts were removed from their site and this apology was offered.
It must be said, as far as apologies go, that's about as bland as you can get. While Reebok may have hoped that a line would be drawn under the whole thing, plenty of fans were having none of it.
@ReebokUK @arielhelwani 'Design error', dumb mistake after dumb mistake and ugly kit, Reebok clearly making no effort at all with @ufc gear
— Daniel Brandon (@Savageless) October 21, 2015
@ReebokUK @yay_yee what about that "territorial" tagline? That a design issue? — Connor Dillon (@connorjdillon) October 21, 2015
@ReebokUK It clearly wasn't an error, someone deliberately designed it. Hopefully you lose a lot of business in N Ireland because of it.
— RH (@11gawa) October 22, 2015
@ReebokUK design error or pure ignorance? The idiot who designed it needs handed his p45! An error that could start major shit in NI. — EastBelfastNo1 (@AaronDevlin3) October 22, 2015
@ReebokUK Seems unlikely that such an error would have been so easily overlooked. As Ric Flair would say, "It was a calculated mistake!"
— David (@InfinitelyManic) October 22, 2015
@ReebokUK "show your UFC territorial allegiance" with Northern Ireland removed is offensive and frightfully ignorant. #neverbuyreebok — Aaron Lennon (@AaronLegend) October 21, 2015
@ReebokUK Design error my bollocks, It had to be designed and approved by someone or some people. Are you all that thick and insensitive?
— Galloper Thompson (@GalloperT) October 21, 2015
Way to smooth relations, guys. PR home run, there. @ReebokUK @arielhelwani — Lee Harrison (@LeeHarrisonUK) October 21, 2015
In reality, that's just some of the more pleasantly worded complaints. Reebok's PR battle with UFC fans has been going rather dreadfully so far and this is perhaps a new low.
