Just in time for the controversial FIFA World Cup soccer championship being held in the Russian Federation on June 14-July 15 came a controversial marketing decision by sports gear giant Adidas: a “retro” design featuring Soviet insignia.
The multinational corporation, which says its mission is “to be the best sports brand in the world,” released what was labeled “Russia Tank Dress,” featuring the letters “USSR” emblazoned across the chest, plus the hammer-and-sickle state emblem of the Soviet Union. The description of the product reads: “To celebrate the upcoming World Cup this summer Adidas presents this scarlet red and white football jersey tank dress. Inspired by 1991 shirts worn by the Soviet Union, this casual Adidas dress has been reimagined in breathable mesh and features a USSR print to the front and oversized number 9 print to the back, which are details recalled from the original.”
Celebrating the World Cup by celebrating a genocidal regime. Wrap your head around that one. The Soviet regime was responsible for tens of millions of deaths, tens of millions persecuted, tortured, displaced. Its victims include Ukrainians, Crimean Tatars, Lithuanians, Latvians, Estonians, Georgians, Poles, Kazakhs and many other nations. Outraged, commenters on social media sarcastically suggested Adidas should also sell Nazi-themed uniforms.
In Lithuania, many had demanded that the “Russia Tank Dress” be removed and threatened a boycott of Adidas. As a result, Adidas did eliminate it from its online store in that country. Lithuania’s Foreign Affairs Ministry welcomed the decision and tweeted “Respect for millions of victims of Soviet totalitarian regime is an issue of human decency.”
But Adidas did not take the dress off the market completely. Furthermore, the dress is just one of a range of products. For example, men’s jerseys, described as replicas of the USSR team’s official jersey or as a “Retro Russia Jersey” were being sold on the U.K. website of Adidas and the Pacsun website in the U.S.
In Ukraine, the Institute of National Remembrance asked Adidas Ukraine not to sell products with symbols of the Communist regime on Ukraine’s territory, pointing out that such symbols are banned in Ukraine under a law that condemns the Communist and Nazi totalitarian regimes. Beginning on May 9, the Ukrainian Crisis Media Center (UCMC) has published daily visual reminders along with messages like this: “Between 1917-1991, the USSR murdered 20-35 million of its own citizens. Thank you, Adidas, for reminding us!” The UCMC said it would continue its protest action “until Adidas shuts down the USSR clothing line and its CEO Kasper Rørsted makes a public apology with respect to this morally reprehensible situation.”
As of the writing of this editorial, nothing has changed. The UCMC underscored in a May 16 release: “Despite all the requests, the company continues to sell its product line adorned with USSR symbols through their official website and distributes this collection through resellers – including Farfetch – to a wider global consumer audience.” The UCMC underscored: “Resurrecting Soviet symbols can only be compared to reviving Nazi symbols, as only the Nazi regime competed with the Soviet Union as far as the numbers of victims it claimed. Profiting from the sale of Soviet symbols is also tantamount to politically supporting Russia’s current aggression against Ukraine and violation of international law, namely the illegal annexation of Crimea and occupation of eastern Ukraine beginning in 2014.”
According to various news media, the offensive sports dress has disappeared from official Adidas stores, and Adidas did not respond to requests for comment.
So, has Adidas learned its lesson? If that were the case, it would have issued a public apology for this disgraceful enterprise instead of pretending it would all just go away.