Supermac's social media reinstated after GAA's April Fools' Day complaint

Supermac's social media accounts were reinstated on Thursday evening, April 4, after they were suspended on the foot of a complaint from the GAA relating to the Irish fast-food chain's April Fools' Day prank.

"We're back!" Supermac's said in its tongue-in-cheek social media posts after its accounts were reinstated on Thursday evening.

"And we won't carry a chip on our shoulder," the Irish fast-food giant said with a winking emoji.

RTÉ reported on Thursday evening that according to Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, Supermac's accounts were "removed in error and were reinstated earlier today."

Supermac's social media pages were suspended after the GAA reported the company to Meta over its April Fools' Day prank on its Facebook and Instagram accounts. 

Supermac's Photoshopped an image of Croke Park, the GAA's headquarters in Dublin, with the Supermac's logo, joking that the iconic stadium had been rebranded as Supermac's Croke Park. 

The post, which poked fun at a recent controversy surrounding the renaming of Pairc Uí Chaoimh as SuperValu Pairc Uí Chaoimh, showed the Supermac's logo across the Croke Park playing surface and on the match-day screens.

However, it seems the GAA didn't take kindly to the prank and subsequently filed a complaint with Meta, resulting in the closure of the Supermac's pages. 

"Croke Park is a registered trademark," the GAA said in a statement, as reported by the Irish Independent on Thursday.

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

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

Supermac's was reportedly notified of a potential trademark violation that resulted in both its Instagram and Facebook accounts being deactivated. It was given 180 days to appeal the decision. 

The Irish fast-food chain said that it did not accept that there was any breach of third-party trademark rights. 

“The post in question was meant as an April Fool’s joke and this was referenced in the comments,” a Supermac's spokesperson told the Irish Independent.

“It comes as part of a long line of April Fool’s jokes that we have been engaged in over the years and was clearly intended as such.

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

Previously, the GAA has written to Supermac's, the longtime sponsor of Galway GAA, to cease and desist from using the GAA crest in an online advertising campaign. 

In a separate incident, the GAA took legal action against Supermac's after the company used a Mayo crest in one of its advertising campaigns. The campaign continued to run, but the Mayo crests were blurred out.