The founder of Hex is just as bad, in most of his posts you’ll find him bragging about his wealth and what he owns etc… Proper Grade A knobsack! Bet he thinks Poundland is ‘tinpot’ too!
Probably not in hindsight and given the response. But reasons explained which I think are pretty fair and valid and should be able to put that to bed. No need really is there? It was just an example, and you’d probably agree with what I put in one of the posts.
You might need to rethink your analogy - Poundland are far from tinpot. They are known to be a good company to work for. the fact they identified a market which is for cheap products doesnt make them tinpot Im not saying Hex are or are not tinpot I really dont know enough about them but the fact that anyone replying to the clubs twitter account is being targetted cant be good from any viewpoint
I’m just repeating myself here but see other posts above. Wasn’t about the company, or the shops, or anyone who goes there, and more about us valuing all our players and club at a pound. At a time where anything not bolted to the ground is likely for sale.
Oh I’ve not seen them, I’ve seen this Kuqi guy make homophobic remarks as well as celebrate most of America banning abortions. Proper horrible ba$tard and apparently he is partly responsible for this sponsorship deal getting set up and that’s how he is openly on social media. If normal supporters have seen this, how has no one official at the club when it’s so easy to find?!
What a bunch of deplorable c[]nts they really are! If I thought this company was shady before it’s almost a certainty now. Hopefully the club can pull out of this sponsorship deal, we can’t be associated with vermin like these. We’re supposed to be a diverse club that promotes equality for all, this company or at least those in charge of it are against that.
If you already have the shirt do they put the sponsors on free. Otherwise we haven't bought a replica shirt
They got some of the tweets from here. I don't see how we can continue to use a sponsor backed by numerous guys with thoughts like this. There is no positive in keeping them. I hope we haven't started printing their logo on shirts and have a get out clause.
It bothers me that we're prepared to abandon all ethical considerations when chasing a sponsorship deal, and its another signal of how dire our cashflow situation must have been to have even considered this. In the space of 3 days since the deal was announced we've had negative publicity from football finance commentators, had supporters being spammed with criticism from a Twitter community who know nothing about our club, and have now seen tweets from two of the key people seemingly involved in the deal that are openly homophobic and seemingly linked to alt-right US politics. There comes a point where no amount of up-front cash is worth the reputational damage involved in getting it. This deal looks, so far, to be rapidly heading in that direction. And just to top things off, the oversized sponsors logo looked awful on the shirts yesterday.
Thinking about it a little more, there are a couple of other potential issues coming down the line. If the brand proves toxic enough to Barnsley fans that they choose not to buy shirts with the sponsor's name on, then the lost revenue potentially hurts the club (and I would assume that the sponsorship deal won't allow shirts to be sold without their name on once it it in place). I suspect the option to buy without a sponsor will be closed off soon, if it hasn't already. Also, given the negativity, there will come a point where this Twitter community will turn on the club and supporters. We've seen already how active they are (whether real or bots). Imagine that social media firepower posting anti-BFC content, which feels somehow inevitable.
There’s three options here. Huge piece of PR work to overcome all these various issues. Unlikely to work 100%, won’t appease everyone, but might stem the spiralling of what’s going on at the moment on social media. There are some genuine posters, being really civil, and sharing some interesting links that are contrary to others. Also this whole company, investors, etc. is so unclear there could be a chance to improve how it’s viewed there. Walk away and cancel the deal. Norwich did this when they had a backlash over a gambling sponsor. Do nothing. At all. Then I think your worries become a genuine reality.
I think that hits the nail on the head. I suspect we might see the PR approach adopted, but I think the second option would be the optimal solution. I also suspect that option 3 would be more likely to happen than option 2, although I really hope that a head in the sand approach doesn't get considered as in any way reasonable.
The way things are on social media, and the things that are being shared, I could see option two being where we end up. Who knows though these days. Can’t predict anything anymore.
I just can't even begin to fathom how this got past the first pass. I run my business's social media account. Only 3000-odd followers and I do enough due diligence to spot this kind of stuff before I even go so far as liking a single post.
