This has to be one of the most ingenious sponsorship ideas I've seen this year (or any other year, for that matter).

HP sauce is a brown sauce which for me has all the culinary appeal of a tactical nuclear warhead, and much the same effect on whatever food it's applied to. That's by the by. What is important is that makers HP Foods this year decided to sponsor snooker legend Jimmy White for the UK Masters Tournament.

What transformed this from being just another sponsorship deal was that HP also sponsored the brown ball, and persuaded Mr White to change his name to Mr Brown by deed poll.

In a failed attempt to prevent comparison with the Godfather of Soul, Mr Brown asked that people continued to call him Jimmy, rather than the more formal James. However, in a move that served only to fuel the fire, the BBC refused to call him a Brown of any sort, saying it would contravene their editorial policy.

Looking at the raft of witty headlines that resulted, HP's saucy sponsorship put a smile on the faces of millions the day the deal was announced. Priceless.

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