Cold Hard Cash Matters: Adidas Drops BLM Lawsuit to Avoid Another Scandal
10:54 GMT 30.03.2023 (Updated: 10:56 GMT 30.03.2023)
© AP Photo / Matthias Schrader
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The German sportswear multinational barely ducked another scandal amidst scathing criticism over its partnership with Ye (Kanye West) who made a number of anti-Semitic comments and urged Jews to forgive Adolf Hitler.
Adidas has dropped its copyright challenge against BLM’s logo.
Previously, the sportswear giant expressed concern that Black Lives Matter’s new logo was “likely to cause confusion” with the brand's three stripes and even filed a complaint over it.
Adidas stressed that it has been using its logo for more than 70 years and that it has gained “international fame and tremendous public recognition”. Company executives were concerned that the BLM logo would reduce consumer brand awareness, in other words, they were worried that the public would confuse their trademark with the BLM logo.
Adidas has taken court action to block a trademark filed by Black Lives Matter for its "Three-Stripe" logo.
— Josh Gerben (@JoshGerben) March 28, 2023
Per the court filings made on March 27th, Adidas claims the Black Lives Matter stripes are too similar to its own.
A thread 🧵#adidas #BlackLivesMatter #BLM pic.twitter.com/S4b5YFXRdh
However, it seems that Adidas PR specialists know their job.
“Adidas will withdraw its opposition to the Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation’s trademark application as soon as possible,” a company spokesperson said.
He stressed that the brand fully supports the BLM movement's ideals.
This is not the first time Adidas founds itself caught up in a major scandal. Previously, one of the company’s most prominent ambassadors, rapper Ye (better known as Kanye West) made a series of anti-Semitic remarks, claiming that Jews "control the music industry." Adidas then terminated its partnership with Ye, but it was harshly criticized for being too slow to dump unsold Yeezy (Ye-inspired boots) stock in excess of €500 million. Adidas' executives reportedly left the question up in the air.
