Liverpool FC mark obesity week with Dunkin' Donuts deal

LIVERPOOL Football Club has marked National Obesity Awareness Week in the UK by unveiling a major new sponsor. It's none other than Dunkin' Brands Group, the American company responsible for Dunkin' Donuts and ice-cream chain Baskin-Robbins, and which boast on its website of its commitment to "offering great-tasting food and beverages that meet many different dietary needs".

From a turkey, cheddar and bacon sandwich (400 calories) to a blueberry crumb donut (500 calories) to its signature Pumpkin Spice coffee Coolatta [1,040 calories], Dunkins Group caters to the sweetest of teeth. Its contribution to the world's collective waistline is less beneficial, however, and the new partnership with one of England's top football clubs won't go down well with the authors of a report that this week warned half the UK population could be obese by 2050 at a cost of £50bn per year.

Nonetheless the multi-million pound deal has delighted Liverpool with Ian Ayre, the club's managing director, declaring: "This is one of our key partnerships and Liverpool fans should take comfort that we are right at the top of the commercial league."

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Ayre said the multi-year deal was vital for the club's financial future: "In order to support [manager] Brendan Rodgers, we have to find the resources. In this world of Financial Fair Play that is only allowable by operating within your own means and this is absolutely vital in us being able to compete.

"We talk about the ability to operate in the transfer market and, with FFP, a big part of doing what we want is generating revenue. That is why we are expanding our network of global and regional partners."

The deal also makes commercial sense for the Dunkin' Group, which closed its UK outlets in the mid-1990s, but has recently started to return. Its first shop opened in north London last month and it has plans open 50 more franchised restaurants in and around the capital over the next five years, as well as a further 150 outlets across the UK.

"With 18 English league titles and five European Cups, Liverpool FC is one of the world's most renowned football clubs, so we're very excited to partner with them as we continue to grow our two winning brands, Dunkin' Donuts and Baskin-Robbins, around the world," boomed John Costello, Dunkin' Brands' president of global marketing and innovation.

"We look forward to working with Liverpool FC on a number of exciting marketing initiatives and engaging with football fans worldwide in the coming years through this partnership."

Donuts, muffins, Danishes, ice cream... Liverpool will never eat alone again.