Under pro-Israel pressure, Adidas walks back Bella Hadid ad campaign

Iconic sports apparel brand Adidas had a sound game plan ahead of the 2024 Paris Olympics — to play up its SL72 sneaker, honouring the 1972 Munich Olympics with a re-issue of the Adidas Originals of that year.

The problem? Its brand ambassador and the face of the campaign, supermodel Bella Hadid, is not a popular choice with the pro-Israeli public these days.

Hadid's own Palestinian heritage, compounded by her outspoken support for the #CeasefireNow and #FreePalestine civilian campaigns against the Israeli genocide of civilians in Gaza, has made her persona non grata to several media houses, brands and publicists.

So, even as leadership in France, the host of this year's Olympic Games, swings around from being all for Israel's 'right to self-defence' after the October Hamas attack of 2023, to deploring the absolute massacre of women and children, attacks on educational and medical establishments and stoppage of aid... it seems her inclusion was a step too far.

But was it cowardly of Adidas to be so quick to expunge the campaign images from its social media, pull down posters and billboards as Israel's official handed tweeted its backlash?

This story may not be quite so black and white.

A case of misplaced (and muddled) loyalties?

The Munich Olympics are specifically remembered for a tragic reason: 11 Israeli athletes and coaches were killed by Palestinian militant group Black September, which infiltrated the Games Village that year. Fast forward 52 years, and Adidas thought of reviving its classic SL72 sneaker to honour the victims of the 1972 Munich Olympics massacre.

Enter Bella Hadid, a supermodel of Palestinian heritage, as the campaign's star — and an outspoken critic of Israel's Occupation of the West Bank and its own campaign to decimate all militants in Gaza, no matter what the cost.

What could possibly go wrong?

What did the Israeli government say?

The Israeli government’s official account on social media highlighted Hadid's history of a vociferous anti-Israel stance, stating:

"Adidas recently launched a new campaign for their shoes to highlight the 1972 Munich Olympics. Eleven Israelis were murdered by Palestinian terrorists during the Munich Olympics.

"Guess who the face of their campaign is? Bella Hadid, a half-Palestinian model who has a history of spreading antisemitism and calling for violence against Israelis and Jews. She and her father frequently promote blood libels and antisemitic conspiracies against Jews.

"Adidas, any comment?"

As per USA Today, the American Jewish Committee called the campaign an "egregious error", stating: "At the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich, 12 Israelis were murdered and taken hostage by Palestinian terrorist group Black September. For Adidas to pick a vocal anti-Israel model to recall this dark Olympics is either a massive oversight or intentionally inflammatory. Neither is acceptable. We call on Adidas to address this egregious error."

Now, clearly, Adidas had mis-stepped in its choice — and failed to read the room that is the global village right now.

However, here it also had an opportunity to use the campaign to stand up against all terrorism, all massacre of innocents — and uphold that supporting a free Palestinian state, standing against the genocide in Gaza, calling for a ceasefire and speaking out against the massacre of civilians, including thousands of children... is not the same as being antisemitic.

That would have required massive finesse — and massive conviction and fearlessness, admittedly a tough ask for a brand that must ultimately support its bottomline (and stakeholders and customers) first, we suppose.

Adidas' apology

As the pro-Israel public doubled down on Israel's 'official outcry', Adidas issued a statement apologising for any "distress caused" and announced that it would be revising the remainder of the campaign.

Adidas issued a statement to FOX Business saying: "The adidas Originals SL72 campaign unites a broad range of partners to celebrate our lightweight running shoe, designed more than 50 years ago and worn in sport and culture around the world. 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.

"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."

Bella's side

Hadid was one of five celebrities, both models and athletes, hired as models for the SL72 campaign, as per the Times of Israel. She has been no stranger to controversy — and has indeed been vocal about her support for Palestinian rights.

In a social media post (now deleted) in May 2021, she said Israel was not a nation but a land settled by colonisers that practise "ethnic cleansing, military occupation and apartheid over the Palestinian people". More recently, after the 7 October Hamas attacks, she condemned Israel's violence against civilians, stating:

Pro-Palestine supporters and Palestinians in general — those who can afford to even consider such trivialities today, over their own lives and loved ones — have rather understandably called out Adidas' failure to stop the witch-hunt against Hadid.

As the debate continues, Adidas has removed all posts featuring Hadid from their social media accounts. Billboards and posters have been pulled down.

Clearly, there is little hope of a public discourse here that is not black-and-white — either pro-Palestine or pro-Israel, with no room to deplore extremism on either side.

And the business of fashion — and the Olympics — are the last arenas we can today expect to see a nuanced and equitable position that honours the rights of all of humanity, Jesse Owens and the boycott of South Africa's apartheid regime notwithstanding.