TALK about monkey business. A leading motor manufacturer, trying to inject a touch of humour into the advertising campaign that runs with a football supplement in a tabloid newspaper, this week left Leeds United spluttering with indignation.

In taking up the sponsorship, which is to run every week of the season, the commercial vehicle division of Fiat Auto UK decided to try to identify with the readers of the newspaper in question by venturing into realms of terrace wit, if wit it can be called.

One of the four advertisements for Fiat vans in Monday’s edition characterised Peter Reid, the Leeds manager, as a monkey, took a dig at the club’s financial problems, and completed its ad with a reference to Alan Smith, the young striker who, shall we say, has had his problems from time to time with discipline on the pitch.

The depiction of Reid as a lesser species of primate may reflect a taunt that is sometimes levelled at him and may be funny to some, but Professor John McKenzie, the club chairman, takes a dim view of it. And that is understating the case by a factor of about 100. “I’m all in favour of a bit of humour in the game,” he said. “I think that football takes itself a bit too seriously at times and I have no problem at all with people having a go about our finances, but there’s a fine line to be drawn. This time, I think somebody went too far.

“To show the manager as a gorilla was offensive, I think, and picking on Alan was, too. The lad’s trying to get his act together and is doing a tremendous amount of social work in the city. I wasn’t happy about it, but I’m not prepared to make an issue out of it.”

Paul Godden, the brand manager of the commercial division of Fiat in the UK, mounted a stout defence of his company’s campaign. “We are attempting to let fans know that we understand football and the humour of the terraces,” he said. “We have nothing personal against Leeds and they are the only club who have protested about the adverts.”

Meanwhile, Leeds can take consolation from the fact that they will not be in the firing line again. A different club is being targeted by Fiat every week — Leeds were preceded by Manchester City — and more of the same can be expected, with other clubs as the victims. They have been warned.