Business

Tories in hot water over Love Island giveaway

The Conservative Party rowed back on a “Love Island” themed water bottle giveaway today after accusations it had ripped off the hit shows brand ahead of tonights series finale.

The Tories launched a competition today offering a chance to win a free Love Island water bottle for those who filled in their details online.

Read more: Missguideds cosy relationship with Love Island is a hit with consumers

"Yeah thats right – we're giving away Love Island water bottles for the final (obviously),” the page said.

However, all references to Love Island were later removed from the webpage and Love Island was deleted from the pages URL after questions were asked online as to whether the Tories were breaking copyright law.

Kenneth Mullen an intellectual property partner at law firm Withers said the promotion did appear to infringe ITVs Love Island trademark.

“I assume they [ITV] would have some kind of claim against the Conservative Party,” he said. “This seems to be some kind of illegal use of the Love Island name for what effectively looks like merchandise,” he added.

When asked if the water bottles being given away by the Conservative Party were in any way connected to the show, an ITV spokesperson said: “Official Love Island water bottles are only available via the Love Island app and shop.”

Read more: Cheeky: Nando's denies it will give Conservative Party members a discount

The water bottles being given away by the Conservatives bear slogans “with a political twist” such as “dont let Corbyn mug you off”, aping the slang used by contestants on the show.

Mullen said: “I imagine the Conservative Party have done this to capture the youth vote but it seems to have backfired.”

“Clearly they thought it was a clever thing to do but not thinking through the fact the brand would be getting nervous about it.”

It is not the first time the Tories have come unstuck trying to appeal to younger voters.

In May, suggestions the Conservatives were thinking about offering party members a discount at Nando's were quickly squashed by the chicken chain which said: “Nando's has no political affiliations as a brand and no political discount card exists.”

The Conservative Party declined to comment.

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