Controversial Addidas Sneaker (shoe)

Blog Entry: 399

  

The Roundhouse Mid “Handcuff” shoe, created by New York designer Jeremy Scott, features a plastic orange shackle that attaches to each ankle. The sneakers cost $350. It was promoted with a teaser “Tighten up your style with the JS Roundhouse Mids, dropping in August. Got a sneaker game so hot you lock your kicks to your ankles?”

The brand was making a cheeky statement about shoe theft but many are equating these binding devices with slavery and prisoners.

The “Handcuff” sneaker image had over 36,000 Facebook likes, but many of the comments are angry and disapproving.

“Please tell me this is FAKE. I am not hearing these Adidas Amistad Originals,” one woman commented on Facebook, referencing the ship famous for an African slave revolt in 1839.

One man is prepared to boycott the brand out of respect to his African heritage. “I for one will NEVER don another pair of Adidas if these shoes see the light of day in the sneaker market,” he wrote.

One Facebook user reasoned that “corporate business has a social responsibility above all to consider these perceptions before releasing a product like this.”

Another flabbergasted person wondered, “This has to be some sort of prank right?” Others simply called the design “ignorant” and the look “slavewear.”

The sneaker controversy is still on-going with over 2,000 Facebook comments along with many websites and bloggers discussing their unique perspectives.

One commenter wrote on Facebook, “Wow Adidas, you had an opportunity to fix this and you defiantly decided to go the racist route. Good for you. I hope your stock falls off a cliff.”