Extremists Hijack Adidas Social Media Campaign

July 2, 2019 Advertising, Extremists

The Hill reports:

Adidas faced widespread backlash after it inadvertently tweeted racist, anti-Semitic and other offensive phrases as part of its social media campaign.

The sportswear giant ran its #DareToCreate campaign Monday that aimed to promote its new Arsenal shirt. If a user shared a tweet advertising the brand using the hashtag, an image of the Arsenal shirt was personalized with that user’s Twitter handle on the back.

But twitter users with offensive handles, including @GasAllJewss and @DieAllN—–s, hijacked the campaign, leading to the Adidas account automatically tweeting out personalized jerseys with the slogans.

Yeah, it’s been… an interesting day. pic.twitter.com/ZNMoGuzPBj

— Zachary Jacobson (@ZachAJacobson) July 2, 2019

For posterity: pic.twitter.com/wN47qoG0Ai

— Walker Bragman (@WalkerBragman) July 2, 2019

Adidas’ #DareToCreate campaign provides yet another valuable reminder to brands on why you should never let the internet customise anything. pic.twitter.com/uw02upr63g

— Andrew Bloch (@AndrewBloch) July 2, 2019