Diageo dump Irish

[Neils]

Have ended a 30 year tie up with Irish over Jackson signing. Diageo = Guinness.

[Trevs Big Tackle]

Yep. Good news. Seems to be strong feelings about this in the general public here in Ireland.

[wasps]

I don't know much about the back story to this

I remember there being a rape case where he was found not guilty (along with someone else)
But the irfu dumped them anyway


Was it a case of them being found legally not guilty, but there still being a very strong suspicion that they actually did it?

[RBB]

It was the tone and content of their text messages, viewed as not fitting in with core values. The messages were used in the evidence offered, I think.

[BG]

Was it a case of them being found legally not guilty, but there still being a very strong suspicion that they actually did it?

Legally not guilty? They were found not guilty of rape in a court of law by a jury.

They admitted having sex (2 blokes.. can't remember the other player's name, Oldfield I think) with the female who accused them.

What transpired from the investigation by the police was a WhatsApp group conversation (involving half the Ulster rugby squad) discussing the night in question.. which obviously came to light in court.. which Ulster RFC and the Bank of Ireland wanted to distance themselves from.. i.e. that some of their employees could discuss or refer to women in such a way (I'm not going to even repeat the stuff).


Its not a good start to LI promotion.. CashConverters have also cancelled their sponsorship (I'm not sure that's related though).

You would have thought LI would have checked with their major sponsor regarding this particular signing as to their feelings given the reaction of the Bank of Ireland and Ulster a few years ago.

[RBB]

Irish have shelled out big money to support their promotion, with the likes of Naholo and O'Brien joining. Losing their main sponsor so close to the start of the season will undoubtedly impact their financial stability and ability to cover all of their costs comfortably. I will watch with interest to see if any other organisations pick up the slack Diageo and Cash Converters have left?

[backdoc]

i would have thought there was a strong enough association already between Diageo's products and bad male behaviour towards women.

[BG]

I do wonder if anyone (general rugby supporters - as no-one else would know who Jackson was ) would have raised an issue with the signing. It was announced a little while back and nothing that I can see was raised in the press about the background history, raised eyebrows etc (he was afterall found not guilty.. )

Its only Diageo that has brought this to everyones attention again..

Firstly they announced that they weren't happy (or whatever the PR equivalent) about the signing and then 3 days later announced they were withdrawing their sponsorship.

Its as if their legal dept was taking pre-emptive action against a sh!tsorm they were expecting to happen, but probably wasn't going to happen, but having done so.. they've sort of created their own.

Maybe something else was going on in the background and this gave Diageo an easy "out"

[Trevs Big Tackle]

It's been getting more attention in Ireland than I expect it is in UK.

My finger is not exactly on the pulse with local news (don't read print media or watch TV) but the Jackson signing was reported in the national news (Independent.ie and others on Twitter). Again, I didn't see a massive campaign targeting Diageo but I did see a few tweets from people along the lines of "Nice one Cash Converters, now lets get Diageo to see sense".

This is an Irish led campaign. People don't want him playing for anyone associated with Ireland. If he signed for e.g. Quins I don't think there would have been any targeting of their advertisers. But London Irish, nope. Also Diageo = Guinness which is such a big brand, used in tourist advertising all over the world etc. It's the Irish brand, and people don't want it associated with Jackson and his ilk.

[Hymenoptera]

i would have thought there was a strong enough association already between Diageo's products and bad male behaviour towards women.

I drink Guinness but don't treat women like a piece of meat.

They are not the only sponsor to drop the, Cash Converters already have..can you provide another link there?

Odd comment overall.

[Neils]

i would have thought there was a strong enough association already between Diageo's products and bad male behaviour towards women.

I drink Guinness but don't treat women like a piece of meat.

They are not the only sponsor to drop the, Cash Converters already have..can you provide another link there?

Odd comment overall.

+1 - totally enjoyed Guinness for 49 years and never, knowingly, aped Jackson and mates.

Also did read that another two sponsors are considering their positions. No names though and am not up to who actually sponsors LI anyway.

[backdoc]

Never mind chaps.

If you cannot see the utter hypocrisy of a major drinks manufacturer with decades of sexist advertising creating this fuss, you deserve to carry on drinking the swill that is Guinness.

[Chilham]

No more Johnny Walker for me then. I'm withdrawing my "sponsorship".

[BG]

I'm not quite sure why anyone would associate one of Diageo's many products with the actions/behaviour of Jackson/"Other player"  or indeed, the behaviour of anyone (females as well BTW) on a Sat evening in any town across the country, which makes me think the Diageo legal dept have completely over-reacted and created a situation where there wasn't really one.

Someone has said its a bigger thing in Ireland, and that somehow, being London Irish, there's is some sort of responsibility back to Guinness and accordingly Diageo.

It would be akin to Shell pulling sponsorship of a club because one of their players crashed a car and injuring someone after filling up with Shell Super Plus or something.

I think the bigger question is  - How do the supporters (male/female) of London Irish feel about his signing (btw.. why don't they appear in the list of clubs on the other forum?). Its as if Diageo has spoken morally on behalf of those supporters.

[Rossm]

I think the bigger question is  - How do the supporters (male/female) of London Irish feel about his signing (btw.. why don't they appear in the list of clubs on the other forum?). Its as if Diageo has spoken morally on behalf of those supporters.

I am not sure when the Prem season has formally ended, but Newcastle are still listed as in the Premiership and LI are still in the Championship.