By Mark Baber
January 13 – Plans by the Premier League to rebrand their logo by removing the lion, as soon as their lucrative sponsorship deal with Barclays Bank comes to an end, have been compared by fans on Twitter to the death the well-loved Zimbabwean lion Cecil.
According to newspaper reports, the Premier League intends to remove the lion from its official logo for next season when, instead of one main backer, the League will have a larger number of secondary rights partners.
Reports that the lion will be killed off and a new logo will be drawn up by a creative agency drew tongue-in-cheek comparisons from Twitter users to the killing of Cecil the Lion by American dentist Walter Palmer which caused a world-wide uproar and led to Palmer having to go into hiding.
Cecil was first shot by an arrow and then hunted down and killed with a rifle.
His Premier League image – though there is no confirmation that he was modelled on Cecil, presumably due to fears of breaching image rights rules – has similarly been hunted down. First by the spreadsheet pushers who couldn’t find a significant number attached to his mane, and then by trendy marketing agency gurus in slim-fitting clothes, colourful glasses and speaking in tongues.
Support groups are being mooted and outraged former heavyweight boxing champion of the world Mike Tyson has reportedly asked for meetings with Premier League bosses, London Zoo and Prince Charles at Clarence ‘the lion’ House.
Several ‘Bring Back Cecil’ campaigns are currently in the process of merging their efforts and Conservative MP Damian Collins (often referred to as ‘Joan’ in football circles and a flag waver in the NewFIFANow lobby group) is rumoured to have asked if he can lead the campaign, a House of Commons enquiry, a delegation to the EU and an all-expenses paid fact finding trip to Africa with his wife and family.
FIFA president Sepp Blatter, no stranger to controversy in Africa, when contacted by Insideworldfootball responded that due to his ban from football he couldn’t comment but he did say that, as in the case of the American Palmer’s killing of Cecil, he once again suspected the tentacles of the US Justice system to be behind this.
Leo the Lion, Clarence the cross-eyed Lion, Simba and the cast of the Lion King were all unavailable for comment. However, a spokesperson for a leading Zebra rights organisation said it was “great news for our members”.
As the marketing managers at the Premier League are doubtless pointing out, every cloud has a multiple pieces of silver lining.
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