The National Football League team now known as the Washington Commanders has a proud history. Including five league championships and some of the most iconic names in the world of American football.
But recent years haven't been as kind to the now-Commanders. Years of controversy finally led to name-changing. A workplace environment so toxic that team owner Daniel Snyder has been called to testify in front of Congress. Mismanaging a potential franchise quarterback's injury so badly that it virtually ended his career. And so on. A new embarrassment has now emerged on the team's merchandising front.
Puts out mugs placing them in the wrong geographic location
If it hasn't been immediately clear, the Washington that the Commanders are linked with is Washington, District of Columbia. The capital of the United States of America, located on the country's east coast. Now, neither their corporate headquarters, nor their home venue for games have been in the city for years. The former is in Ashburn, Virginia and the latter in Landover, Maryland. But the D.C. area is the home base of their supporters.
None of these cities, however, are located in the State of Washington. Which makes up some of the continental United States' westernmost parts. The state also quite famously has its own NFL team, the Seattle Seahawks.
But according to CBS the Washington Commanders merchandise department seems to have gotten confused. The team recently made available a line of coffee mugs featuring the team's "W" logo. Nothing particularly unusual. Except that the logo was proudly in the center of an illustration of Washington state. Very much not Washington, D.C..
To a certain extent, this mistake would be understandable. A mix-up happened with the supplier might happen. It gets cleared up and some people get a good chuckle out of it. Some of them might even get to keep one as a memento or funny conversation piece.
But in this case, it seems that the mugs got past numerous observers who did not object to them.
To the point that they were primed and ready at a sales truck outside the Commanders' stadium, FedEx Field.
After several members of the general public noticed the flub, the team has since acted. Removing the mugs and leaving a conspicuous gap in the space that they'd formerly occupied.
Elsewhere at the stadium: I’m being told there are mugs with outlines of the state Washington for sale pic.twitter.com/1fzp4RrdNV
— Pete Hailey (@PeteHaileyNBCS) September 11, 2022
Not the first time a mix-up has occurred
The Commanders' moment of mug mayhem could be the most humiliating sports-related Washington confusion. Particularly as the team itself was responsible for the gaffe-laced items. And then did nothing about it until it was too late to stop it from going viral.
In fairness to them, they weren't the first to make such a mistake, notes The Washington Post.
Even the NFL itself got confused in the past. Selling novelty license plates featuring the franchise's former primary logo prominently placed in the State of Washington. Very similar things happened to the Commanders' National Basketball Association counterpart, the Washington Wizards. Including an occasion involving t-shirts and the sports apparel company Fanatics.
