A Birmingham-based company has ignited a fierce debate after launching a line of merchandise based on the late Liverpool urban legend, Purple Aki. The products, which include a doll's head and a football, have been criticised for profiting from a figure linked to trauma and criminal convictions.
From Urban Myth to Merchandise: The Products Causing a Stir
Inferno Official, a firm from Erdington known for creating realistic dolls of celebrities and other figures, began receiving online requests for items resembling Akinwale Arobieke shortly after his death in August 2025. The company responded by developing two products ahead of the Black Friday and Christmas shopping period.
The first is the "Purple Akidas Predator" football. The second is a doll's head named "Purple W aki". Ben Stroud, the boss of Inferno Official, stated the items were not designed for romance but rather for "using and abusing the dolls with revenge in mind".
Stroud explained the company was reacting to market pressure and trending social media phrases like "he touched so many lives". He claimed people had already been customising existing dolls to look like Arobieke and that demand came from a mix of those seeking dark humour and others wanting a symbolic object for retribution.
The Complex Legacy of Purple Aki
To understand the controversy, one must look at the complicated history of the man behind the myth. Akinwale Arobieke, who was 64 when he died in Toxteth, first made national headlines in 1986 when he was jailed for 30 months for the involuntary manslaughter of 16-year-old Gary Kelly. He later won an appeal and received £35,000.
Throughout the 1990s, he became an infamous figure on Merseyside for approaching young men and asking to feel their muscles. In 2003, he was sentenced to six years in prison for 15 charges including harassment and witness intimidation. A Sexual Offences Prevention Order (SOPO) was later imposed, banning him from touching men's muscles, entering gyms, or asking people to perform squats.
His legal history was marked by repeated breaches of this order and further convictions, but also by significant legal victories against the police. In 2022, he received a substantial payout after suing the Chief Constable of Greater Manchester Police for malicious prosecution.
Divided Reactions and a Darkly Comic Christmas
The decision to commercialise this figure's image has drawn starkly different reactions. For some, it represents a form of dark Scouse humour, with Stroud suggesting the doll heads could become "darkly comic Christmas ornaments" replacing tree toppers. For many others, it appears to be a company cashing in on a painful legacy.
Stroud argued that the volume of stories emerging after Arobieke's death indicated there were "hundreds of victims not the few he got prosecuted for", and that his products were a response to this revealed history. Whether seen as offensive or humorous, the launch has undoubtedly become one of the year's most divisive product releases, forcing a conversation about the limits of satire and the exploitation of notoriety.
The tension between Arobieke's status as a convicted offender and his successful challenges against the police creates a murky legacy. Inferno Official's merchandise now sits at the centre of this unresolved story, proving that the figure of Purple Aki continues to provoke strong feelings long after his death.
