Following its competitor, Nike’s recent media fiasco with the release of its Nike Air Max 270, adidas appears to be in the same boat.
The sneaker brand recently released its Black History Month shoe titled “Celebrating Black Culture” and just as quickly removed it from its site due to an overwhelming amount of backlash. The sneaker in question caused waves of criticism on social media due to what some users say was a lack of relevance to the month dedicated to black Americans.
“Adidas could have gotten more creative with that shoe,” said Twitter user @danayshiaavette. “They could have had all the milestones of black history like MLK, Rosa Parks, Sojourner Truth etc on the shoe instead of having an all-white cushion.”
Adidas could have gotten more creative with that shoe. They could have had all the milestones of black history like MLK, Rosa Parks, Sojourner Truth etc on the shoe instead of having it all white with some cushion. Wtf does that have to do with Black History Month?
— Miss Pineapple 🍍 (@danayshiaavette) February 1, 2019
A swing and a miss, @adidas. FYI: Try consulting with actual Black people first. I hear they’re all over the country. 😜 😂#NoShade https://t.co/iYHcHUcVDo
— Scholarly Mama (@scholarlymama) February 1, 2019
The backlash was enough that the brand released a statement in response to the criticism, per Complex.
“Adidas released a new collection in celebration of Black History Month featuring designs inspired by the Harlem Renaissance. It includes footwear and apparel across a variety of categories. Toward the latter stages of the design process, we added a running shoe to the collection that we later felt did not reflect the spirit or philosophy of how adidas believes we should recognize and honor Black History Month. After careful consideration, we have decided to withdraw the product from the collection.”
The official adidas “Black History Month” collection will be available on the company’s site starting Feb. 5 and although the controversial white shoe has been removed from its website, it can still be found on SSENSE as of right now.
