Prospective Celtic sponsor Fruity King apologises for Jamie Vardy Holocaust 'joke'
Mobile gaming casino company Fruity King has apologised for a tweet which compared Jamie Vardy to a victim of the Holocaust, saying that it “was a joke, and no offense was meant".
The gambling company, which is reportedly close to agreeing a major shirt sponsorship deal with Celtic, has been widely criticised for tweeting a picture of the Leicester City footballer with the caption: "Jamie Vardy looking like an extra from Schindler's List."
Jamie Vardy looking like an extra from Schindler's List. pic.twitter.com/nhcv7dxcUq
— Fruity King (@FruityKing_) March 14, 2016
Twitter users were quick to condemn the controversial post with some calling it “abhorrent”.
Other comments summed up the tweet as “disgusting” and “shameful”.
A Fruity King spokesman has since told The Drum: "It was a joke, and no offense was meant."
The stunt is not the first time that the company has been criticised for its social media management. In January hundreds of Twitter users criticised the company for a tweet which featured a picture of Manchester City footballer Yara Toure and his wife Gineba alongside a caption that joked about the footballer’s wage not falling in line with the attractiveness of his wife.
The controversy will be seen as ill-timed for Fruity King given its attempts to grow its football sponsorship portfolio. The company’s head of marketing and partnerships, James Smith, recently revealed that it was close to edging out rival firm Dafabet for Celtic’s soon to be vacant shirt sponsorship.