Tottenham Hotspur are staring down the brink of a historically bad season, yet marketing chiefs at the club decided it was a good time to launch a new campaign with Peppa Pig
Tottenham Hotspur have launched a marketing collaboration with children's cartoon character Peppa Pig - and the surprise announcement has gone down like Daddy Pig's broken down car when it was stuck on the hill.
With four matches left to spare, Tottenham are still stuck on 34 points, two behind seventeenth placed West Ham United. Roberto De Zerbi's side travel to Villa Park to face Aston Villa in a must win match for the north Londoners.
But a matter of days before that paramount clash, Spurs launched some new merchandise, inspired by a collaboration with Peppa Pig. Amongst the offerings were a pink Tottenham hat which was adorned by characters from the cartoon.
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Had Spurs been occupying a place at the other end of the table, the merchandise would perhaps be received in the manner it was intended. However, with Spurs fans as apoplectic and nervous as they have ever been, it has not been accepted too well.
One angry Tottenham fan commented: "Lads we are on the brink of relegation,” before another sarcastically said: "On the brink of relegation. At least we have Peppa Pig merch to show for it.
A rival supporter also said: "Don't worry about relegation Spurs fans. At least you'll be able to meet Peppa Pig at the stadium in May,” before a second rival also said: “The concept of 'Spurs x Peppa Pig' I can’t even read it without laughing.”
Ipswich Town have also done a similar collaboration with the iconic children's cartoon. Referencing that, while also referring to Ipswich Town's current position in the play-off places and Tottenham's current downward trajectory, another fan laughed Spurs will be the only side in the EFL to have a collaboration with Peppa Pig.
It's the kind of outside noise De Zerbi and his players really do not need. They were boosted by their gritty 1-0 away victory over Wolverhampton Wanderers last week.
However, they also lost Xavi Simons for the rest of the campaign, after he went down with an injury. Nevertheless, De Zerbi believes the result could be the catalyst to a vital run of results they are crying out for.
The Italian said: "I want to be positive but we still played the first 45 minutes very well. I think in the first half we played well.
"We didn't create big chances to score but anyway we had control of the game. And then, [in the second half] maybe the pressure, we lost distances on the pitch and every one of us wanted to go one-to-one. I'm happy for the result. I hope this result can change something in our head and mentality."
After Villa this weekend, Spurs play host to Leeds United (May 11), Chelsea away (May 19) and Everton at home on the final day of the Premier League campaign.