In evidence that Manchester United's commercial tie-ins know no bounds, several of the club's mascots were painted blue ahead of the Premier League clash with Bournemouth as part of a deal to promote the upcoming film X-Men: Apocalypse. United are renowned for their ever-increasing list of sponsors - with partnerships ranging from vitamins to diesel enginesm - although this latest shameless promotion drew criticism from fans on social media. Not content to leave the promotional stunt there, four of the youngsters, who are part of the Manchester United foundation, were completely transformed after being selected by Aon for this special role. Ahead of United's final Premier League game of the season, which had to be rescheduled after a bomb scare saw Sunday's fixture abandoned, each of the 11 mascots carried the names of X-Men characters on the back of their shirts. Seven-year-old twins Hollie and Max wee daubed in blue to represent Mystique and Beast, while Christiano was given a makeover to get into character of Nightcrawler.

Source: New Zealand Herald May 17, 2016 14:56 UTC