Liverpool’s commercial partners Dunkin’ Donuts have apologised after a Twitter campaign which replaced the Hillsborough flames with coffee cups unsurprisingly caused a backlash on social media.
The American doughnut company posted a tweet from their official twitter account calling on followers to come up with redesigns for the club badge.
In an ‘insensitive’ attempt to engage with fans, a suggestion was sent out featuring iced coffee cups in place of the red flames – added to the crest in memory of the 96 supporters killed in the Hillsborough disaster.
Do you wanna tell @DunkinDonuts how bad replacing the eternal flame with coffee is or should we? #LFC pic.twitter.com/qnJRkEVDGT
— Kop Magazine (@TheKopMagazine) February 25, 2015
@DunkinDonuts Delete that #lfc picture mate it's really insulting
— Anfield Europe (@AnfieldEurope) February 25, 2015
Now you have deleted the picture could you apologise to #LFC fans @DunkinDonuts #LFC
— Anfield Europe (@AnfieldEurope) February 25, 2015
@DunkinDonuts do you have any idea what the eternal flames represent on the Liverpool badge? Not happy with this.. pic.twitter.com/KDeQ1Br3FB
— Stuart Read (@readie16) February 25, 2015
Liverpool Football Club have sold their soul, that Dunkin Donuts thing is a disgrace
— Jack (@Beansie96) February 25, 2015
Replacing the eternal flame with coffee milkshakes was bound to backfire, whilst replacing the Shankly Gates with a six-pack of fat and a coffee cup was met with equal disdain.
Swapping the famous ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’ slogan with ‘America Runs On Dunkin’ was the icing on a very flimsy cake.
After the offensive tweet was removed and the campaign was abruptly brought to a halt with immediate effect, a company statement read:
‘We apologize for any insensitivity regarding our tweet supporting an LFC-themed promotion featuring the LFC crest. As a proud partner of LFC, we did not intend any offense, particularly to the club’s supporters.’
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