Adidas apologises after Israeli soldier ad campaign sparks boycott calls

Adidas has apologised after a local advertising campaign in Israel sparked backlash and calls for a boycott, having featured a former Israeli soldier who lost his leg while serving in the military as part of a promotion for the company's Single Shoe service.

The campaign centred on Shalev Biton, a former member of the Israeli army's Nahal infantry brigade whose left leg was amputated after he was seriously wounded near Gaza in May 2021.

He appeared among a group of disabled athletes featured on posters displayed at Adidas stores across Israel.

"We recognize that an image used in a recent local activation by the local team has raised concerns and strong reactions," Adidas said in a statement, adding that the campaign had been limited to Israel rather than forming part of the company's global advertising strategy.

"It was never our intent to cause offense and we apologize for anyone affected," the company said, framing the promotion as a local initiative rather than a coordinated worldwide campaign.

Criticism focused heavily on the decision to use a former Israeli soldier to promote a service designed for amputees, at a time when thousands of Palestinians in Gaza have lost limbs during the conflict there.

The World Health Organization estimated in May that more than 5,000 traumatic limb amputations had been recorded in Gaza since October 2023, alongside more than 22,000 major extremity injuries, with up to a quarter of those affected being children.

Rehabilitation services in Gaza have struggled significantly amid damage to the health system, shortages of medical equipment and limited access to prosthetics and specialist care, a contrast critics said made the campaign's timing and framing particularly insensitive.

Spanish actor Javier Bardem was among the prominent voices calling for consumers to boycott Adidas over the campaign, with other activists and social media users also sharing criticism, including footage of themselves discarding Adidas products entirely.

Adidas sought to distance the controversy from the broader intent of the Single Shoe service, describing it as an accessibility initiative rather than any form of political statement.

The programme, first introduced across 23 European countries in January, allows customers to purchase a single shoe for half the price of a pair at participating Adidas owned stores, and was developed in consultation with disability organisations including ParalympicsGB.

The service has since expanded into parts of Asia and the Middle East, including Palestine, the United Arab Emirates, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar and Egypt.

Adidas said it remained committed to its broader inclusion goals despite the controversy, adding it would "continue to listen, learn and work to ensure that our actions reflect the inclusive values we stand for."

This is far from the first time Adidas has faced criticism over its handling of matters connected to Israel and Palestine.

In 2012, the company was targeted by boycott calls from Arab sports officials over its sponsorship of the Jerusalem Marathon, a route that passed through Occupied East Jerusalem, and it was no longer among the event's sponsors by the following year.

A further controversy emerged in 2018, when more than 130 Palestinian football clubs and sports associations urged Adidas to end its sponsorship of the Israel Football Association, citing the inclusion of clubs based in illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.

Adidas maintained at the time that it operated in a "politically neutral way," though it later ended the sponsorship without publicly linking the decision to the campaign.

In 2024, the company faced renewed backlash after removing Palestinian American model Bella Hadid from a retro sneaker campaign tied to the 1972 Munich Olympics following objections from Israel.

Adidas later apologised for what it called an "unintentional mistake," though it did not reinstate Hadid, a decision that drew further criticism and additional boycott calls on social media at the time.