A plumbing company has managed to attract a great deal of attention - both positive and negative - due to its risqué name and bright pink vans.
Battersea, south-west London plumbing firm ‘U-Benders’ have said that its plumbers have been welcomed since they renamed and rebranded the business three years ago. However, some see the name as offensive to gay people, as a result of its use of a homophobic slur, albeit in jest.
However, the firm says it is popular with both gay and straight customers, and counts flamboyant gay comedian Julian Clary among its satisfied clients.
“We're not trying to make a political statement”, a spokesman for the firm told the Daily Mail. “U-bends are used in almost everything we do. It doesn't matter to us whether our customers are straight, gay, bisexual or what have you - it only matters to us we can fix their pipes."
“Julian Clary loves us, we do all his plumbing for him,” the spokesman added.
However, one social media user commented: “Not sure if this branding is really clever or really offensive. you really call your plumbers U-Benders?”
The firm - which is a branch of WPJ Heating - confirmed that it had never had any complaints about its name, or its pink vans emblazoned with its logo, but said that it was often targeted by prank callers.