The use of social networks and artificial intelligence can be tricky at times. Adidas suffered an embarrassing problem on July 1 with a Twitter campaign launched to promote its new jersey for the English Arsenal football team. It was hijacked by several users who twisted their Twitter handles to send out racist and anti-Semitic messages.
Using a personalized algorithm developed by Twitter and powered by artificial intelligence, Adidas UK tweeted out images that automatically placed the Twitter handles edited by the users on the back of the jerseys as if they had been printed on them. A few people posted offensive messages like @GasAllJews and allusions to episodes like the 1989 disaster at Hillsborough Stadium where 96 football fans were killed.
After discovering the ruse, the Big a deleted the tweets. Adidas and Arsenal issued apologies, asking Twitter to take urgent measures to prevent similar problems in the future. No customized jerseys were put out.
It was a different story for Nike, which recalled a special edition of the Air Max 1 Quick Strike shoe released in the U.S. to celebrate Independence Day on the Fourth of July after being accused of delivering a message that could be taken as being racist.
The shoe carried the so-called Betsy Ross flag of the U.S. on its heel. Used between 1777 and 1795, the flag features 13 stars in a circle to represent the original 13 colonies that banded together during the American revolution. Nike pulled the shoe out of the market after hearing that had been co-opted by the Ku Klux Klan and used as a symbol of a period of American history where slavery was still current.
The Swoosh was alerted to the danger by Colin Kaepernick, the sponsored football player who knelt to protest against police brutality and racism last September, fueling a Just Do It campaign in favor of diversity that earned the brand a lot of praise. The Air Max 1 USA sneaker has since sold out on the Stocks resale platform after being auctioned at more than $2,500 a pair.
Doug Ducey, governor of Arizona, reacted badly to the product recall, ordering the state to withdraw subsidies of around $2 million that had been promised to Nike as an incentive for the establishment of a manufacturing plant. However, Nike's stock market value increased by nearly 2 percent.
Nike took a more cautious stance in China, where it decided to halt the planned launch on June 14 of a limited edition of shoes whose Japanese designer, Jun Takahashi, had posted a photo on Instagram to support protesters in Hong Kong. Reportedly, some two million people demonstrated in Hong Kong to oppose a bill by the Chinese government that would give it the right to extradite local residents to the mainland.
Nike has repeatedly stated that it is working hand in hand with the Chinese government to assist in its ambitious plan to expand sports participation in the country.
