30 January 2019

Thousands Say Nike Air Max Sneaker 'Offensive' To Muslims, Petition For Recall

An online petition with nearly 15,000 signatures asks Nike to recall its Nike Air Max 270 shoe, saying the logo resembles the word Allah in Arabic and “will surely be trampled, kicked and become soiled with mud or even filth.”

The Change.org petition, created by a person named Saiqa Noreen in the U.K., says it’s “outrageous and appalling of Nike to allow the name of God on a shoe.”

“This is disrespectful and extremely offensive to Muslim’s and insulting to Islam,” Noreen writes in the petition.

The Air Max 270, which recently went on sale in new colors, retails for $150 and features “AIR MAX” stamped into the sole. The design makes part of the logo look like the word Allah in Arabic, petitioners contend

.... “Nike respects all religions and we take concerns of this nature seriously,” the spokesperson said in a statement. “The AIR MAX logo was designed to be a stylized representation of Nike’s AIR MAX trademark. It is intended to reflect the AIR MAX brand only. Any other perceived meaning or representation is unintentional.” [The Huffington Post UK] Read more