Marketing fail: Protesters back Mike Tyson into a corner

Mike Tyson is the face of Black Energy

Mike Tyson's reputation for controversy has taken new turn. The former boxing champ, convicted rapist, biter and bankruptcy claimant has a new job as the face of the drink Black Energy, for which he has been accused of being party to mysogyny and racism.

The London Feminist blog has written a letter to Tesco and Sainsbury's questioning their decisions to stock the product, given its unsettling advertising campaign. The letter highlights one in a series of advertisements where a swaggering Iron Mike, surrounded by white models, sings a song with "lyrics which clearly reference rape" and suggest that "an advert which connects a rapist, singing about rape, to sexual success" might not be such a good thing. The writer also points out the bizarre racial subtexts and the use of the 1960s' "Black Power" political slogan.

It's enough to leave a bad taste in your mouth....