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🇹🇷 Turkey /Elections & Politics

Adidas faces backlash over controversial amputee campaign

From Hürriyet · () Turkish

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

At a glance

News Named sources Ongoing story
  • Adidas used former Israeli soldier Shalev Biton to promote its one-shoe service in Israel, prompting criticism and boycott calls.
  • Biton lost his left leg after an Israeli military vehicle near the Gaza border was hit by an anti-tank missile in 2021.
  • The article cites World Health Organization figures estimating that 5,000 to 6,000 Palestinians, including children, have lost limbs in Israel’s attacks on Gaza.

Adidas is facing a growing boycott campaign after choosing a former Israeli soldier as the face of its one-shoe service in Israel, while thousands of Palestinians in Gaza have lost limbs in the conflict.

The service allows amputees and people who need only one shoe to buy a single shoe for half the price of a pair. For its launch in Israel, Adidas partnered with Shalev Biton, a former Israeli soldier who lost his left leg in 2021 after an Israeli military vehicle near the Gaza border was struck by an anti-tank missile.

Biton announced the partnership with Adidas on August 26 and described the launch of the service in Israel as “a dream come true.” The campaign quickly drew criticism after images of Biton were shared alongside photographs of Palestinian children who had lost limbs.

A dream come true

· Shalev BitonBiton described the launch of Adidas’s one-shoe service in Israel.

Posts accusing the company of ignoring children in Gaza received millions of views. Palestinian activist Abeer Khatib said she would burn all the Adidas products she owned, while U.S. social media personality Guy Christensen called the company’s choice “disgusting.” Adidas had not commented on the backlash at the time of the report.

The article cites World Health Organization data saying that 5,000 to 6,000 Palestinians, including children, lost limbs in Israel’s attacks on Gaza. It also recalls that Adidas faced criticism in 2024 after removing model Bella Hadid, known for supporting Palestine, from an advertising campaign.

Disgusting

· Guy ChristensenThe U.S. social media personality criticized Adidas’s choice of Biton for the campaign.
About this summary

Originally published by Hürriyet in Turkish. 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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