Thousands sign petition over 'offensive' and 'blasphemous' Nike sneaker
A petition is calling on sportswear giant Nike to pull one of its popular shoes after the logo on the sole was found to look similar to the Arabic word for ‘Allah’.
Nike’s Air Max 270 shoe has the word ‘Airmax’ imprinted into the sole in a modern font – but a petition started by UK resident Saiqa Noreen claims the logo is “blasphemous”.
When the logo is held upside down, part of the script resembles the Arabic font.
“It is outrageous and appalling of Nike to allow the name of God on a shoe,” the Change.org petition reads.
“This is disrespectful and extremely offensive to Muslims and insulting to Islam. Islam teaches compassion, kindness and fairness towards all.”
Noreen added that the logo was sure to be “trampled, kicked and become soiled with mud or even filth”.
In 1997, Nike pulled a line of basketball shoes over the same issue.
The company recalled 38,000 pairs of shoes after an Islamic advocacy group threatened to encourage the entire Muslim population to boycott the brand, the Washington Post reported at the time.
“Nike claimed to have tighten [sic] scrutiny on design. So why has a similar design been approved?” the petition questioned.
“We urge Nike to recall this blasphemous and offensive shoe and all products with the design logo resembling the word Allah from worldwide sales immediately.”
Yahoo7 News has contacted Nike for comment.
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