Puma faces a huge marketing disaster following Marc Cucurella's slipping twice in Chelsea's London derby with Tottenham on Sunday.
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Chelsea full-back Marc Cucurella is a huge ambassador of Puma, but the Spaniard was caught in possession twice in the early stages of the London derby after slipping on the wet surface, which allowed Dominic Solanke and Dejan Kulusevski to give the hosts a 2-0 lead. After the second slip, Cucurella ran over to the touchline and changed into a different pair of Puma boots.
Although Chelsea went on to win the game 4-3 against Tottenham, after the match, Cucurella, in a now-deleted post, posted a photo on his Instagram story of the new Puma boots in the bin alongside the message 'Sorry Blues.'
The boots that the Spanish international threw in the bin after the Tottenham match were pairs of the next-gen Future 8s, which had just gone on sale to the general public in the lead-up to the holiday season.
Cucurella's struggles in front of global viewers during the match, alongside his Instagram post after the game, have negatively impacted Puma's reputation and may discourage people from buying the new design. This situation is particularly unfortunate for the sportswear brand, which is already under pressure after a disappointing financial performance in the third quarter.
Dailymail reports that Puma CEO Arne Freundt shared an optimistic message while speaking on the brand's recent troubles.
'Talking to the retailers both in Europe and the U.S., I think we are quite confident about the demand going into the important shopping season.'
The Future 8s were marketed as a specialized product in three areas: adaptability, movement, and control. However, Cucurella's early performance appeared to contradict this claim, leaving Puma embarrassed in the face of global viewers across the world.
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