The GAA & Supermacs are currently clashing over a harmless April fools prank ..
According to The Independent
The GAA said: “Croke Park is a registered trademark. The use of any registered trade mark is not permitted, in jest or otherwise where it is clearly being used for advertising purposes and in this case on a business account.
“Also, to be clear, the post was first published on 31 March 2024 and not on 1 April 2024.”
Supermac’s have defended their post saying;
“The post in question was meant as an April Fool’s joke and this was referenced in the comments,” a spokesperson said.
“It comes as part of a long line of April Fool’s jokes that we have been engaged in over the years and was clearly intended as such.
“Supermac’s is working with Meta to reinstate the accounts.”
Supermac’s Facebook and Instagram accounts suspended over Croke Park April Fool’s gag https://t.co/qvVqiG5xC0
— Irish Independent (@Independent_ie) April 4, 2024
Supermac’s involvement with Galway GAA dates back to the late 1980s.
Reacting at the time, Supermac’s founder and owner Pat McDonagh said he was “a bit surprised” by the correspondence received, first a letter from the GAA’s commercial department and then a letter from a legal firm representing the association.
“It was promotion of the game,” said McDonagh. “We have been sponsoring GAA for the best part of 40 years and probably spend a million a year between the county, clubs, schools, colleges and other events.
“It will resolve itself. We have a lot of good friends in the GAA, we know their two sponsors Elverys and Portwest quite well so this was really in relation to the crest on the jersey. The issue is not with Mayo,” said McDonagh.
“We’d sponsor quite a few teams in Mayo in different codes.”