Adnams in 'mighty Norwich City' Twitter gaffe
- Published
A Suffolk beer company brewed up a storm on Twitter by singing the praises of its county's rival football team.
Adnams had challenged Twitter followers to a treasure hunt around Norwich, including at "Carrow Road - home to the mighty Norwich City FC".
It sparked a backlash from Ipswich Town fans, who accused Adnams, based in Southwold, of "betrayal".
Adnams spokeswoman Liz Cobbold said the tweet was written by someone who does not understand football.
The tweet was among several directing followers to the whereabouts of Ghostie, a beer bottle character giving away beer vouchers as it wandered around the city.
"It was just a bit of fun and as it was a match day we thought, let's go down to Carrow Road," said Ms Cobbold.
"The person who wrote the tweet is not a football fan and doesn't understand football."
But calling Norwich City "mighty" was too much for some, who accused Adnams of alienating its customers.
A fan tweeted: "How dare you Adnams. You are a Suffolk based firm. Ignore your community then. A boycott of your product is forthcoming I hope."
Another supporter who also called for a boycott, added: "Pretty certain Colman's wouldn't refer to Portman Road as mighty. PR fail," referring to the Norwich mustard-maker.
And one joked that Ghostie could be found in Norwich City's trophy cabinet.
Ms Cobbold said: "We certainly didn't mean to offend our customers... it was like we walked into a bar not knowing what was going on.
"I suppose it goes to prove that, like Donald Trump, if you want a reaction you have got to say something controversial.
"If we were worried that people weren't reading our tweets, we aren't now."
Adnams deleted the tweet on Sunday and posted that the "real" person behind its tweets was "not a fan of football (of any colour) #neutral #whoops".
- Published25 February 2017