Steven Gerrard In ‘Cringeworthy’ Holiday Ad
Liverpool icon Steven Gerrard bid an emotional goodbye to his boyhood club and fans at his final game in Anfield over the weekend.
And the tributes have been pouring in non-stop from former coaches and other past and present footballers who played alongside him.
But it is his latest holiday fashion campaign with British Airways that has been garnering embarrassing attention.
Ahead of the summer travel season, the former England captain, 34, and his model wife, Alex, posed for a series of advertisements at London’s Heathrow Airport to promote the airways’ flights to the Caribbean.
And it has already been branded ‘cringe-worthy’ by fans, who compared it to a similar ad campaign by the National Lottery featuring Ashley Cole and his then girlfriend, Cheryl Cole, back in 2006.
The images show Gerrard and Alex wearing summer gear and posing with suitcases on the tarmac.
In another photo, the couple sat on beach towels laid on the turbine of the plane, surrounded by fake tropical palm trees.
Alex wore a frilly, cream coloured dress by Isabel Marant and paired it off with nude and black Kurt Geiger espadrilles. Meanwhile, Gerrard dressed down in a white Orlebar Brown polo shirt and dark shorts by Lanvin.
Although the airline has yet to respond to comments about the photos, Gerrard will certainly be having the last laugh.
He is set to move to LA Galaxy, with a sprawling beachfront mansion awaiting his family’s arrival next month. Now how’s that for a summer holiday?
BALOTELLI FINED AND BANNED FOR SPEEDING
Meanwhile, Liverpool’s resident ‘bad boy’ and striker Mario Balotelli has been fined £800 and banned from driving for 28 days on Friday after he admitted speeding at 109mph in his Ferrari.
The 24-year-old Italian was pulled over by police shortly after midnight on December 3, last year on the M62 highway near Liverpool when he was driving his £240,000 ($498, 380) left-hand drive Ferrari.
Hours later Balotelli returned to Liverpool’s training ground amid a Football Association investigation into alleged anti-Semitic comments that appeared on his Instagram account.
Balotelli was later handed a one-match ban and a £25,000 ($51,900) fine by the FA and ordered to attend an education course for his social media gaffe.
On Friday, Balotelli had been expected to attend Wirral magistrates court after he was convicted in his absence last week. But he failed to appear for the hearing and his solicitor Mike Hogan explained to magistrates that he had not received the summons.
“It wasn’t a case of him simply ignoring an important document sent by the court,” said Mr Hogan. ‘Had he received the summons in the first place he would have pleaded guilty on his first appearance.
Balotelli was fined £800 ($1,661), ordered to pay an £80 ($167) victim surcharge and £100 court costs. His solicitor asked the court for 28 days for payment to be made.
