While Patriots coach Bill Belichick defended himself to reporters on air pressure in footballs, stadium sponsor Gillette had an ad up behind him: #Flexball.
The coincidental ad appeared Thursday as Belichick talked about cheating accusations being investigated by the NFL, saying he doesn't know how his team used underinflated footballs during a win against the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday.
The win earned the Pats a spot in the Super Bowl on Feb. 1 against the Seattle Seahawks.
New England plays in Gillette Stadium and the Flexball ad is for one of the company's razors, which uses a small ball to rotate the head of the razor during shaves. After the news conference, #Flexball quickly became a popular hashtag online to poke fun at the coach.
Kurt Iverson, the senior communications manager at Gillette Stadium, released a statement to NECN later on Thursday:
“The #FLEXBALL hashtag was launched in parallel with our launch of the Fusion ProGlide with FlexBall Technology back in April 2014 and appears through a lot of existing Gillette branding. Because of our partnership with Gillette Stadium, our logo is always included on the backdrop at team meetings and press conferences.”