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🇮🇩 Indonesia /Elections & Politics

Adidas Apologizes After Campaign Featuring Former IDF Soldier Triggers Backlash and Boycott Calls

From Republika · () Indonesian

Translated from Indonesian and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

News Named sources Outcome reported
  • Adidas apologized after a local Israeli advertisement featuring former IDF soldier and disabled model Shalev Biton sparked widespread criticism and boycott calls.
  • Biton lost his left leg after being injured during a military operation in Gaza in 2021 and appeared among 11 disabled athletes in an Adidas store poster.
  • The company said the advertisement was a local initiative, not a global campaign, and said it had not intended to offend anyone.

Adidas has apologized publicly after a shoe advertisement featuring Shalev Biton, a former Israeli soldier with an amputated left leg, triggered widespread criticism and calls for a boycott.

We acknowledge that a photo used in a local activity by a local team has caused concern and strong reactions.

· AdidasThe company acknowledged the backlash over the advertisement.

Biton was injured during a military operation in Gaza in 2021. He was one of 11 disabled athletes featured on a poster at an Adidas store in Israel, and a promotional video featuring him later went viral on social media.

The German sportswear company said the image had been used in a local activity by a local team. “We acknowledge that a photo used in a local activity by a local team has caused concern and strong reactions,” Adidas said. “It was never intended to cause offense, and we apologize to anyone affected.”

It was never intended to cause offense, and we apologize to anyone affected.

· AdidasAdidas apologized and said the advertisement was not intended to offend.

Adidas described the advertisement as a local initiative rather than a global campaign. Biton presented the campaign as a collaboration with the company in an Instagram post. “It may sound like a small thing, but for me it is more than just shoes. It is a desire for the world we live in to sometimes adapt to us, and not always for us to adapt to it,” he wrote.

It may sound like a small thing, but for me it is more than just shoes. It is a desire for the world we live in to sometimes adapt to us, and not always for us to adapt to it.

· Shalev BitonBiton described the meaning of the promotional collaboration in an Instagram post.
About this summary

Originally published by Republika in Indonesian. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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