Angela Rye slams Adidas over ‘Predator’ Ad with Black soccer player
Angela Rye took to Instagram to drag Adidas over what she believed to be a racially insensitive ad. In particular, she took issue with the poster use of the word “predator” below an image of Black soccer player.
The ad, which features French soccer player Paul Pogba, is supposed to promote a new line of Adidas Predator cleats. However, the shoes are not displayed anywhere in the ad.
Instead the ad displays a huge headshot of Pogba.
‘This is devastating’
Rye described the ad as “devastating” and pointed out the racial implications of the use of the word ‘predator.’
“[A] lot of you are defending this ad by saying the soccer player pictured wears this line of cleats. Where’s the shoe? Do you understand that PREDATOR has a negative connotation particularly when we are talking about the perception of Black people in the world? This is irresponsible and NOT well thought out,” the activist and political analyst wrote.
Reactions to Rye’s call out were mixed. While many agreed that the ad was racist, or inappropriate at best, some disagreed.
I enjoy you @angelarye but I think you are reaching in the wrong direction with this… please research the Adidas Predators line of Soccer cleats. Kobe Bryant was named the Black Mamba but there wasn’t a line of sneaked named “The Nike Mambas” before he was given that name!” one user wrote in the comments. “Soccer or Futbol never isolated its product lines based on “nicknames” given to players. Love you my Sista, but please… Don’t assume. It’s best to research 1st before shooting your own kind…”
Brands and race
This comes just days after H&M got caught up in its own controversy over a racist ad. On its website, the retail giant displayed a picture of Black boy wearing a monkey hoodie.
The hoodie, emblazoned with the words “Coolest Monkey in the Jungle,” drew swift backlash.
Several people accused the clothing retail giant of racism or, at best, complete ignorance.
–The Weeknd bails on H&M after monkey hoodie controversy–
On Monday morning, the racist hoodie was still up for sale with an altered image without the model. However, the item was later removed from all of its websites.
After previously issuing a half-baked apology, H&M issued the following statement:
We understand that many people are upset about the image. We, who work at H&M, can only agree. We are deeply sorry that the picture was taken, and we also regret the actual print. Therefore, we have not only removed the image from our channels, but also the garment from our product offering globally. It is obvious that our routines have not been followed properly. This is without any doubt. We will thoroughly investigate why this happened to prevent this type of mistake from happening again.
