American sports giant Nike sparked global outrage this week after launching a post-London Marathon campaign using the slogan “Never again… until next year” — a crass play on words that invoked the phrase associated with never allowing the Holocaust to happen again.

What was meant to be a clever nod to marathon exhaustion instead triggered a firestorm of anger, disbelief, and disgust. By casually repurposing one of history’s most sobering memories, Nike achieved what even the anti-Israel protesters who disrupted the marathon could not: uniting Jewish communities and Holocaust survivors around the world in furious condemnation.

“Nike’s marketing department has discovered a new and efficient way to burn millions of dollars and lose customers at the same time,” a crisis communications expert said Sunday. “This is like marketing running shoes with a slogan: ‘The Twin Towers fell — so did our prices.’”

The campaign dropped just days after Holocaust Remembrance Day, while Jewish communities worldwide are still grappling with the trauma of the October 7 Hamas massacre in Israel. In a climate of surging antisemitism and widespread trivialization of Jewish suffering, Nike’s flippant slogan was received as a gut punch.

Industry insiders say Nike’s marketing team likely aimed to tap into Gen Z’s appetite for “authentic humor” and edginess. Instead, they stumbled into a catastrophic display of ignorance and insensitivity.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)