Atlético Madrid and Spain national team midfielder Marcos Llorente may not have intended to make his coffee brand the choice of Nazis worldwide, but one look at its logo shows that it’s probably earned that dubious distinction.
Llorente’s “Café Irreverentes” was launched last year, with former Athletic Club star Ibai Gómez also an owner.
The brand has just begun entering the market and this week announced a partnership with Madrid restaurant Rhudo.
Llorente reposted a video announcing that partnership on Instagram, which quickly led to a renewed focus on the company’s logo.
There is only a minor difference, with the coffee brand’s logo a backwards version of the insignia for the Schutzstaffel — a paramilitary unit responsible for some of the worst atrocities of World War Two.
La duda es si Marcos Llorente es un nazi que usa el logo de las SS o es tan ignorante que se lo han colao pic.twitter.com/2zhY3jc2Fo
— María de la Ο🔻 (@MDELAO) July 3, 2024
Somewhat depressingly, this isn’t the first controversy involving soccer and the SS in recent months.
The Germany national team was forced to change the number four in its new kits due to an unfortunate resemblance to the very same logo that Llorente’s coffee brand looks like.
For Llorente, the outcry over his company’s logo isn’t the only time he’s been in the news for non-soccer reasons lately.
The 29-year-old also generated controversy with an Instagram post last month detailing his routine while on vacation in Hawaii, which included spending four hours in the sun without sunscreen or sunglasses.
When commenters pointed out that his sunbathing philosophy was ideal for someone trying to give themselves melanoma, Llorente replied to one user: “The problem is not the sun, it is us. Don’t blame the sun.”
To another user he was more blunt: “If you think skin cancer is caused by the sun, you’re the king of ignorants.”
Llorente was on vacation earlier than he’d hoped, as he was one of the final cuts for Spain’s Euro 2024 squad.
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