Puma have hilariously made a fool of themselves in their latest campaign, having previously faced a potential marketing disaster due to Marc Cucurella's actions in Chelsea's recent win over Tottenham.
Cucurella made two costly mistakes that led to goals in Chelsea's 4-3 win over their rivals in the London derby last weekend, switching boots mid-match.
Puma's next-generation Future 8 boots were only recently launched in the run-up to Christmas and Cucurella had originally tested them during training at the club's Cobham centre.
The Spaniard is an ambassador for the sports brand who earns a lot of money but was unimpressed with the new £220 boots he wore against Spurs and later posted a photo of them in the bin.
However, his post-match update on social media, in which the Euro 2024 winner posted the Puma boots on his Instagram Story and showed them in the bin alongside the 'Sorry Blues' message, sparked outrage and was later deleted.
By the time Cucurella deleted his post, it was all over social media and made some fans think twice about buying their own pair of Puma boots.
However, instead of punishing their ambassador, Puma decided to make fun of the situation in a refreshing piece of marketing that prominently featured Cucurella.
Puma released their latest marketing material on Saturday ahead of Chelsea's Premier League hosting of Brentford on Sunday, sharing a photo showing Cucurella standing next to a carved sign on the wet floor.
Instead of showing the usual slipping stick man, the sign featured a stick man with Cucurella's iconic afro haircut.
The full-back stood next to the yellow sign with his arms outstretched and the post with the ironic caption: 'It's not how you slip, it's how you bounce back.'
There was also a series of follow-up posts showing the wet floor board being taken on a tour of different parts of London.
The ad posts went crazy with Chelsea supporters thrilled to see the brand mocking a potentially disastrous situation, with one replying to X: 'Excellent rescue work.'
Another X update similarly added, “The only way they could spin that lol realistically.”
However, some rival supporters were cautious about Puma's post with one commenting: “Imagine slipping again tomorrow with this shoe.”
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