Birmingham company launches controversial Liverpool bogeyman Purple Aki presents ahead of Black Friday and Christmas
A Birmingham company has launched a controversial range of products based on Liverpool muscle squeezer Purple Aki in time for Black Friday.
Purple Aki was a Liverpool bodybuilder who was found guilty of stalking and other crimes after continually asking young men to squeezed their muscles.
After he died in August Birmingham based company Inferno Official, which makes lifelike romance dolls of celebrities, began getting requests for Purple Aki dolls.
So the company created the Purple Akidas Predator football and the Purple W-aki dolls head in time for Black Friday and with an eye on the Christmas present market.
Erdington born Inferno Official Ben Stroud said: "As a company we have always responded to customer demand. And we kept on seeing comments and messages about Purple Aki after he died.
"The phrase 'he touched so many lives' was trending on Twitter so I asked a few Liverpool friends about him and was just amazed at the story.
"So the requests for products made sense."
He said: "And then we saw some crude alterations to existing dolls to look like Purple Aki. But we had never seen requests like those who wanted Purple Aki dolls before. This was not about romance but was about using and abusing the dolls with revenge in mind."
He added: "He is Liverpool's bogeyman and I think all the stories which came out after he died was because his victims finally felt they could say what he did to them without fear of him turning up on their door step.
"Turns out there were hundreds of victims not the few he got prosecuted for."He added: "Some people wanted a likeness of him to give a good kick-in or to attack but lots more wanted a Purple W-Aki to send to friends as a joke, or to use him in mischievous ways. This is a very Scouse thing, they are known for their sense of humour."
He added: "And then Liverpool being such a football mad city the Purple Akidas Predator football was a no brainer after we stumbled across one of the greatest product names in a generation."And this being a Purple Aki football whoever plays with it will immediately get a good touch."
The Akidas Predator football pays homage to the iconic Adidas football boot from the early 1990s, which was a Liverpool invention. Former Reds midfielder and double winner Craig Johnston invented the boot in a bid to get more swerve on his free kicks and created one of the most successful football boots ever made.
The ball harks back to the days of casers, with hexagonal sections. Each one with a picture of Purple Aki's head.
The Akidas Predator aims to be more than just a football and aims to be a cheeky iconic popular culture product. It will be a wind-up merchant's dream with the balls being used for all types of practical jokes, from being hung outside people's windows to give them the fright of their lives when they draw back the curtains in the morning or snuck onto someone's pillow as they sleep.
Ben said: "Sadly we were just too late for Bonfire Night because Purple Aki will be Liverpool's very own Guy Fawkes. However, a Scouser's house this Christmas and see a purple Aki on the Christmas tree, either replacing the star or fairy at the top or hanging on a branch as a bouble."
Akinwale Oluwafolajimi Oluwatope Arobieke (1961–2025) had a string of convictions for harassment. He would follow young men and ask if he could touch their muscles, first their biceps and then wherever else he could get his hands on.
One man was so scared he fled through the streets of Liverpool as Aki chased him into a railway station where he died crossing the track attempting his getaway. The man mountain was also sentenced for six years in 2003 for 15 counts of harassment in St Helens after 120 potential victims.
