At the 1972 Munich Olympics, the Palestinian terrorist group Black September took Israeli Olympians and Israeli staffers hostage within the Olympic village. Two Israelis were murdered within the Olympic village, and nine Israelis were killed as German authorities tried to ambush the Black September terrorists and separate the Israelis. One of Steven Spielberg’s best films, in my opinion, is Munich, about the Olympic terrorist attack and what Israel’s Mossad agents did in retaliation. That film really reflected the pain and terror an entire nation felt when their athletes were targeted at the Olympics.
In the years since Munich, Olympic opening ceremonies always reference the terrorist attack in some way, to point out that the attack went against everything the Olympics stand for: unity, love of sport, fair competition, peace. I’m not surprised that some Olympic sponsors would also try to make a reference to Munich, although I cannot think of one at this moment. Well, Adidas is an Olympic partner/sponsor of various national Olympic teams. Instead of choosing one of their many sponsored athletes to feature in an ad campaign referencing Munich, Adidas used Bella Hadid (who is still under contract by Adidas) to wear an Adidas kit and pose with some flowers. Bella Hadid is half-Palestinian and a vocal advocate for Palestine and Palestinians. This was poorly conceived at every single level, including Bella choosing a somewhat menacing glare in the ad campaign. Adidas has now apologized and removed the photos from their social media:
Adidas is apologizing after featuring Bella Hadid in a new campaign honoring the 52nd anniversary of the Munich Olympics. To support the relaunch of Adidas’ SL72 sneaker (which debuted in 1972, the same year as the Munich Olympics), Hadid appears in advertisements wearing the sneakers and a white Adidas ensemble while holding flowers.
The company swiftly received backlash for selecting Hadid as the face of the campaign. During the 1972 Munich Olympics, eight Palestinian terrorists from the militant group “Black September” broke into the Olympic Village and killed two members of the Israeli team and took nine more members of the Israeli team hostage. All of them were killed.
Hadid, who has Palestinian heritage, has long been an outspoken supporter of Palestine.
Per USA Today, Adidas Originals shared the campaign photos on X with the caption, “Giving Bella Hadid her flowers in the SL 72,” however, all posts featuring the 27-year-old model have since been removed from Adidas Originals’ X account and Instagram. Hadid also shared news of the campaign on social media. In an Instagram post on Sunday, July 14, the model is seen standing in front of the ad, shown on a billboard in New York City’s Times Square.
On Thursday, July 18, the American Jewish Committee spoke out against the campaign and called for Adidas to “address this egregious error.”
In response, Adidas issued an apology for the campaign and said the brand would be “revising” it. “We are conscious that connections have been made to tragic historical events — though these are completely unintentional — and we apologize for any upset or distress caused,” Adidas said in a statement shared with USA TODAY Sports on July 18. “As a result, we are revising the remainder of the campaign. We believe in sport as a unifying force around the world and will continue our efforts to champion diversity and equality in everything we do.”
I don’t buy that apology from Adidas whatsoever. “We are conscious that connections have been made to tragic historical events — though these are completely unintentional…” They consciously reissued a shoe from the 1972 Munich Olympic games, knowingly referenced the games in the ad campaign and knowingly hired/used a half-Palestinian model for the campaign… rather than one of their sponsored athletes. They knew exactly what they were doing. So did Bella, let’s be honest. But that hasn’t stopped Bella from hiring lawyers and threatening to sue Adidas over this.
Bella Hadid’s readying for legal battle with Adidas … with sources telling us she’s hired legal counsel to take on the athleticwear giant. Sources familiar with the situation tell TMZ … Bella’s retained lawyers to take action against Adidas for their lack of public accountability — basically, saying she feels they spearheaded a cruel and damaging campaign.
Our sources say she’s upset the company would put out a campaign that would associate anyone with a tragedy like the Munich Massacre at the 1972 Olympics … with violence running in contrast to BH’s own views.
BTW … we’re told Bella’s still under contract with Adidas despite earlier reports saying the company dropped her.
Adidas apologized [for the ads], saying they never meant to make a statement via connection to historical tragedies. Earlier today, Adidas announced it was revising its campaign. Sounds like Bella’s telling people in her orbit she didn’t know what she was getting herself into when she signed on … and, she’s holding Adidas responsible for that.
The only way Bella might have a case is if the terms of her existing Adidas contract were particularly harsh, as in, Bella has absolutely zero say in what she promotes with Adidas or they didn’t tell her anything about what the shoe reissue was about and what they were referencing in the campaign That being said, Bella’s ignorance is not a defense. It also sounds like Adidas did all of this knowingly, as in, their goal was to be controversial and bait people.
Photos courtesy of Adidas.
First of all the shoe was launched in 2022 were people upset then? Is it the shoe that is in bad taste or is it that the model is a palestinian who has been targeted by official israeli accounts for quite some time and now they are trying to imply that she supports violence. She should sue. I hope she wins.
She is full on American.
As Kaiser said, athletes should promote athletic-wear. Not nepo models.
@mil you don’t get to decide other people’s identity. Bella has clearly stated she is Palestinian.
@Dark: Exactly.
Thank you Dark. Exactly this.
People continue to attack anyone who speaks up for the Palestinian people, especially Bella.
Exactly, Bella has done nothing wrong imo.
This. Enough is enough!
The reaction to this ad is as antisemitic as blaming the Jewish people for the crucifixion of Christ.
Adidas–which is lagging significantly behind Nike in sales–is attempting a Nike-style social justice ad campaign (remember Colin Kaepernick’s Nike ad?) and failing.
This has nothing to do with social justice it’s about selling sneakers. People are in Germany are basically barred from being pro-Palestinian.
That´s so not true, Amy Bee. There is, however, an awareness in some parts of the German public that a slogan like “Palestine will be free from the river to the sea” carries anti semitic sentiments as it negates the right of the state of Israel to exist.
People in Germany get arrested for showing solidarity with the Palestinians. That’s a fact.
Sounds like everyone was trying to be edgy and now they’re scrambling.
That’s what I was thinking too. It seemed like an edgy choice in the boardroom. But they never thought about the wider audience or expected the blowback.
The same with the BDSM kids’ collection with Balenciaga. Everyone is trying so hard to go viral. They don’t think about common decency first.
I stand with Bella Hadid.
I don’t believe Bella knew what she was signing up for, she received death threats, intimidations even from official accounts just for advocating for innocent Palestinian lives. It would be very stupid for her to give people a reason to invalidate her advocacy like that. If she had something to hide, she wouldn’t sue a big corporation.
I am 99% sure Adidas knew what they were doing though. We are talking about the same Adidas that let Kanye’s antisemitic rants go unchecked in their boardrooms.
I’m very sure Bella knew exactly what she was doing and signing up for. Also she is not any newcomer model, she has a say in what she is doing. That being said I don’t really think she was using this as political propaganda, but it was kind of tone-deaf from her. She knows that this would follow. She should simply have stepped away from the opportunity.
Adidas knew what they were doing; I have little doubt their strategy was to stir up controversy so they could make a big show of apologizing, all the while keeping their brand in the news. I’m not sure about Bella; I don’t think she should be modeling athletic gear, especially in an Olympic year, for a company that sponsors actual athletes, but whatever.
On a personal note, an ex’s father, who is an American Jew, was on the US Olympic soccer team in 1972. He remembers being woken up by German guards and being put in a cell for “safety” because no one knew at that point whether all Jewish athletes were being targeted or only Israelis. I can’t imagine what went through his mind during the hours he was held.