Arsenal kit launch turns horrific after Adidas account shares racist and offensive shirts
The launch of Arsenal's new kit has been hit by controversy after the official Adidas account was tricked to tweet out horrific racist and offensive shirts.
As part of the reveal of the new kit, Adidas set up a system that would allow anyone to have their Twitter username written on the back of the shirt, simply by liking a tweet. The account would automatically create an image of how such a shirt would look, as well as giving users a link to buy that personalised jersey.
But the feature was immediately hijacked by users with a variety of offensive names, including racist attacks on Jews and black people. Others changed their name to figures including Hitler and Madeleine McCann and references to the Hillsborough disaster in an attempt to cause as much outrage as possible.
Because the Adidas feature automatically pulled the names of those Twitter users and wrote them on the back of the shirt, it meant that the account was circulating those names and made them look as if they had been posted on real Arsenal kits.
The tweets featuring the shirts were shared thousands of times.
They remained visible on the official Adidas account for some time but have since been removed.
Adidas made clear that the feature had intended as a way of promoting the new shirt and that the posts had been generated because of the "abuse" of a Twitter feature.
"As part of our partnership launch with Arsenal we have been made aware of the abuse of a Twitter personalisation mechanic created to allow excited fans to get their name on the back of the new jersey," an Adidas spokesperson said. "Due to a small minority creating offensive versions of this we have immediately turned off the functionality and the Twitter team will be investigating."
Arsenal also made clear that it condemned the language being used, as well as pointing to its work on encouraging diversity and inclusion around the club.
"We totally condemn the use of language of this nature, which has no place in our game or society," an Arsenal spokesman said.
"We work hard as a club to encourage diversity and inclusion through our Arsenal for Everyone programme, launched in 2008 as a celebration of the diversity of the Arsenal family.
"Through a number of initiatives undertaken in the community, inside Emirates Stadium and throughout the club, Arsenal strives to ensure that everyone associated with the club feels an equal sense of belonging."
