Supermac's Instagram and Facebook suspended following Croke Park April Fool's joke

GAA officials 'filed takedowns via an online reporting form on Facebook and Instagram' over the gag. Picture: Eóin Noonan/Sportsfile

Social media accounts attached to Supermac's have been suspended after the fast food company posted an April Fool’s Day joke.

The Galway-based company posted a photoshopped image of Croke Park on March 31, teasing that it had been renamed as “Supermac’s Croke Park”.

A spokesperson for Supermac’s said the post in question was meant as an April Fool’s joke, with a comment referencing it by saying: "The new naming rights sponsorship deal comes into play from April 1”.

The post mimicked the controversy surrounding the renaming of Cork’s Páirc Uí Chaoimh earlier this year.

The stadium sparked debate after it was rebranded as Supervalu Páirc Uí Chaoimh, in a deal worth between €250,000 and €300,000 a year to Cork GAA.

The GAA told the Irish Examiner that while it did not enter into correspondence with Facebook and Instagram owner Meta, it did file "takedowns via an online reporting form on Facebook and Instagram".

A spokesperson said that "Croke Park" is a registered trade mark.

"The use of any registered trade mark is not permitted, in jest or otherwise where it is clearly being used for advertising purposes and in this case on a business account. 

"Such use constitutes trade mark infringement pursuant to Section 14 of the Trade Mark Act 1996. 

"Also, to be clear, the post was first published on 31 March 2024 and not on 1 April 2024."

Supermac’s is working with Meta to reinstate the accounts. File picture: Larry Cummins

Supermac’s said it does not accept that there was any breach of third-party trademark rights.

The company referred to the post “as part of a long line of April Fools jokes that we have been engaged in over the years”, with this being no different.

“Supermac’s is working with Meta to reinstate the accounts,” the spokesperson added.

The company has previously joked that it was going to open a chain in Dublin nightclub Copper Face Jacks and that it was opening a drive-thru wedding service.

Similarly, in 2022, the company joked that Supermac’s food would be served on all Irish International flights.