Dunkin Donuts in trouble with Liverpool fans after 'insulting' tweet

Thu, 26 Feb, 2015 - 11:24

Grainne McGuinness

American coffee and doughnut chain Dunkin Donuts were forced to delete tweets and apologise after upsetting Liverpool FC fans with a competition.

The company, who are a corporate sponsor of the club, had tweeted a picture showing their re-design of the club crest. They replaced the club slogan with one on their own and, most importantly, put in disposable cups in place of the eternal flames on the original.

I wonder if @DunkinDonuts are putting an apology together or just hoping it goes away. pic.twitter.com/usasZy1ap4
— Jim Boardman (@JimBoardman) February 25, 2015

Those flames were added to Liverpool’s crest in honour of the 96 fans who died in the 1989 Hillsborough disaster and club fans were not impressed with the change.

@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

@DunkinDonuts Delete that #lfc picture mate it's really insulting
— The AJP Group (@the_ajp_group) February 25, 2015

Some other commentators did point out that the mistake was entirely innocent, and all the company were doing was asking fans to design a crest of their own.

@rower71 well yes it is but even so!
We can't get offended by that. There's far worse going on
— Charl Hennessy (@charlhennessy1) February 26, 2015

@JimBoardman @empireofthekop @DunkinDonuts An apology. Jesus wept. More malice in a Berbatov tackle. Mistake and not even a big one.
— Melvyn Griffiths (@Melvinouk) February 26, 2015

But most of the responses were negative and Dunkin Donuts reacted quickly to the outrage. They deleted the tweets and, according to media in Liverpool, issued a statement of apology.