Marketing fail: Adidas sends rugby stars to Mt Eden prison

The "battleground coordinates" on the arm of the Blues' special new rugby jerseys give the location of Mt Eden Prison.

Sportswear giants adidas must know something that rugby fans - including 20,000 heading our way for the British & Irish Lions tour - don't.

Earlier this month the company - which is both a New Zealand Rugby sponsor and kit provider - released replica jerseys of those to be worn by our five Super Rugby franchises when they take on the Lions in June.

The jerseys come complete with "battleground coordinates" on each jersey's seleeves, which are meant to match up to the venues where the games will be hosted.

But in an epic marketing fail the coordinates on the Blues' jersey instead match to Mt Eden Prison, not Eden Park where the Tana Umaga-coached team will play the Lions on June 7.

The coordinates on the sleeves of the other Super Rugby franchises are also wrong.

The Hurricanes' jerseys take you to the Wellington Botanical Gardens, not Westpac Stadium.

The Crusaders' sleeves lead to an address on Eversleigh St in suburban St Albans in Christchurch, not AMI Stadium, and the Highlanders' digits pinpoint a forested part of north Dunedin called Bethune's Gully, not Forsyth Barr Stadium.

Meanwhile, the Chiefs' coordinates go to Waikato University, not Hamilton's FMG Stadium.

The discrepancy was first discovered by Twitter user Master Grassonist.

When the jerseys were released, senior director of adidas Rugby Simon Cartwright said each jersey was a visual representation of the pride the teams had in their region.

"It's a big year for rugby in New Zealand with the return of the Lions," Cartwright said.

"So we want to arm all teams with everything they need to defend their territories.

"Each jersey is a visual representation of the pride they have in their region. What's become very clear to us in our conversations with team leaders is that losing this battle is not an option."

The jerseys retail for $110 for kids' sizes and $150 for adults.

In further bad news for the the Blues, last night they lost 16-12 to the Highlanders.