‘Strange and bizarre’: WA Premier Mark McGowan responds to furniture company’s hard border dig

WA Premier Mark McGowan has responded to a dig from a furniture company that renamed its sofa bed after him because it opens and closes in ‘seconds’.

Furniture company Koala has renamed one of its products the McGowan Sofa Bed in a lighthearted dig at the West Australian Premier on the day the hard border was dismantled.

The company said like Mark McGowan, the Cushy Sofa Bed was “best known for its ability to open and close in mere seconds”.

Mr McGowan responded with equal jest.

“You’d think they’d give me one as a sort of promotional opportunity wouldn’t you?” Mr McGowan joked when a reporter asked about it on Thursday.

“It was actually quite a funny ad, I thought.

“It’s one of those strange and bizarre things — cereal boxes, T-shirts, jumpers, sofa beds – I don’t know, the last two years has been really quite surreal.”

Koala has renamed one of its products after WA Premier Mark McGowan. Picture: Supplied by Koala

Mr McGowan was referring to the novelty, custom-themed “State Daddy O’s” cereal boxes that Mark Wong began selling on Facebook Marketplace for $25 each late last year.

“Well, it’s not the oddest thing that’s happened to me in the last two years but it’s up there,” Mr McGowan told reporters at the time.

The return of quarantine-free travel into WA comes after almost 700 days of border restrictions and there were many emotional reunions at Perth Airport on Thursday morning.

The Premier has remained relatively popular in WA during the pandemic, despite criticism from commentators on the east coast and families who have been kept apart by the border rules.

Several people have even had his image tattooed on parts of their bodies.

One man showed his affection for Mr McGowan by getting this tattoo on his leg. Picture: Instagram

“I wouldn’t recommend getting me tattooed on you ... I’m pretty sure in years to come anyone who does that will regret it,” Mr McGowan previously said.

Memes also continue to circulate on social media depicting the 54-year-old as a sex symbol, including one showing him as the stripper film character Magic Mike.

However, extreme anti-vaxxers and those opposed to vaccine mandates have also caused Mr McGowan concern recently, including some who have allegedly threatened to “behead” him and his children.

Originally published as ‘Strange and bizarre’: WA Premier Mark McGowan responds to furniture company’s hard border dig