The following is via Fox News:
Thousands of people are demanding sports apparel giant Nike recall its Air Max 270 shoe, saying that the “blasphemous” logo is offensive to Muslims.
A Change.org petition, which garnered more than 31,000 signatures by mid-day Saturday, claims that the logo resembles “Allah,” the Arabic word for God, written in Arabic script.
Petitioner Saiqa Noreen says the logo “will surely be trampled, kicked and become soiled with mud or even filth.”
“It is outrageous and appalling of Nike to allow the name of God on a shoe,” Noreen wrote. “This is disrespectful and extremely offensive to Muslim’s and insulting to Islam.”
Noreen is also demanding Nike recall the “blasphemous and offensive shoe and all products with the design logo resembling the word Allah from worldwide sales immediately.”
A Nike spokesperson told Fox News that the logo is nothing more than a “stylized” version of the Air Max trademark.
“Nike respects all religions and we take concerns of this nature seriously,” the spokesperson said in a written statement to Fox News. “The AIR MAX logo was designed to be a stylized representation of Nike’s AIR MAX trademark. It is intended to reflect the AIR MAX brand only. Any other perceived meaning or representation is unintentional.”
Nike has been in hot water in the past over its branding.
In 1997, the company came under scrutiny for using a flame-shaped logo that also resembled the word for Allah. In that case, Nike pulled 38,000 pairs of sneakers worldwide and donated $50,000 to an Islamic elementary school in the United States.
(Source: Fox News)
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26 Responses
I’ll buy those shoes in a heart beat just to stomp around in them
Sign me up for those shoes. They look comfortable, and I can enjoy angering muslim extremists at the same time.
I am going out today to buy five such pairs.
We should buy them to shut them up. If we had a dem president like Obama, he would put pressure on nike to take them off the shelves.
Show some respect for others feelings. I dont agree with the muslim religion, but acheinu bnei yisroel need to act civilly in public.
It might be assur to trample, because even though we don’t refer to Hashem with the same word that they use, that word does mean Hashem, and it isn’t avoda zara as we see the distinction in hilchos yayin nesech that the wine of Muslims is more lenient because they don’t worship avoda zara, as they worship Hashem.
One should ask a rov.
Also as far as antagonizing them in general. the halacha is Smaichim imahem in order to be machnif to them for the sake of peace (Rema – Yore Deah 149, 12) so certainly we may not antagonize them.
Please be aware that a Yid is never allowed to step on, or be mevazeh H-Shem’s name, no matter in which language it may be written.
funny:
Can you please tell me how these Muslims will see what is under my feet? Today’s world worships the inane statements like “I feel offended”, or “I’m not safe”, or “But that’s how I feel”, and similar things that are intended to sound like they enter the realm of universally assumed morality. Well, that’s all baloney. When things are a matter of personal perception, one may be entitled to them, but it is unconscionable to impose that one anyone else. It is also the epitome of stupidity to regulate things like this and make them law or public policy. I suspect that this PC garbage will increase until it becomes so unmanageable that it gets outlawed. It will be the downfall of any society that adopts it.
Nike will fold on this. Their creative designers will come up with another eye catching logo, and have their coolie Chinese slave workers pump’em out 24/7. It’s nothing to them.
If Nike pulls these shoes they are insane. There is no reason in the world why the rest of the world should subjugate itself to Muslim blasphemy hysterics.
Think about it this way: If a shoe company would design a logo that to us looked like it could kinda sorta be a “yud” and a “hei” would we go ballistic over it? No, it would go without saying that this is a goyishe company and any such resemblance was purely coincidental, and anyone getting offended was either paranoid or neurotic or both.
In response to those who say we can’t trample or be mevazeh Hashem’s name, well, we’re not. And yeah, if I could afford it I would buy thousands of these shoes.
To Chaim Meir and Miami,
To my memory and understanding, your ideas are completely shelo kihalacha for so many reasons:
1. If it is written in another language and it is not in that country then one can delete it (and the USA is not a Arabic or Farsi country yet)
2. A name which is written by an apikores is allowed to be burnt, as there is no meaning behind that name, and definately when it is written to be a logo and not even a name.
3. It is not Hashem’s name as it was written to be a logo and not words
4. Just because something looks similar does not make it that (different from 3 & 4)
5. Most important: Even if the das yishmaeli is not technically avodah zarah, it still is not a Jewish religion. As such it probably would not have any of the religious weight of kisvei kodesh. Since their religion is not Judaism, nor do they believe in the True God of the Jews, a name that they write of their calling of God would carry zero holiness. This would be worse than when an American writes the word God, as there they are referring to the general concept of the Creator of the world or its king (which bipashtus would require geniza (the Rambam in Yesodei Torah writes אבל עובד כוכבים שכתב את השם גונזין אותו, and there is much discussion whether their writing God is included in that)), while here they are writing about a “God” אשר בדה מלבם.
‘רמבם הלכות ע”ז ב’ ד
הא למדת שכל המודה בעבודת כוכבים כופר בכל התורה כולה ובכל הנביאים ובכל מה שנצטוו הנביאים מאדם ועד סוף העולם שנאמר מן היום אשר צוה ה’ והלאה לדורותיכם. וכל הכופר בעבודת כוכבים מודה בכל התורה כולה ובכל הנביאים ובכל מה שנצטוו הנביאים מאדם ועד סוף העולם והוא עיקר כל המצות כולן.
Just an interesting tidbit. If you go to Columbia University by the original library (now an office building) there is a statue which they call the Alma Matta, which has the Seal of the Library, which contains the yud-kay-vav-key name in Hebrew. This seal is replicated in the floor of the entrance way to the library. However, if you look closely, the second Hey was modified in the floor to be a ches.
I do not know the story behind that.
Chaim mair is right
You wouldn’t like it if they marketed swastikas and Muslims bought it to spite us
Since when is their “god” the real G-d anyways that such an issue exists? Their “god” tells them to murder innocent people and commit other hateful atrocities, therefore it seems that their god is basically some sort of evil force that has no relationship to the true Hashem.
When has placating a Muslim resulted in anything positive? Beat them while they are down. The Bushes Clinton and Obama empowered them and now we live in a world where we can fear them less.
Coffee, but many do it when we are nice.
I don’t see the logo resembling the word “Allah” in the least. Am I missing something?
They are probably being absolutely ridiculous but who knows? I certainly don’t. Either way; as a persecuted nation ourselves, I don’t think we belong dismissing their concerns with the stupid comments above. True Muslims hate us and have hurt us so much. But does that mean we get on the world wide web and say we wanna stomp on what is holiest to them? How does that make sense?
Either way; Nike spokespeople can talk all they want, they will capitulate. If it concerns blacks or Muslims, the world turns over.
Think the story last week of the family thrown off the AA flight because of “bad odor”. Had they been blacks or Muslims, there would’ve been an outcry like we’ve never seen. If Osama was still President, he’d be holding press conferences to condemn the bias………. But it was only a frum Jewish family.
YWN: Please show the picture the right way round so that we can actually see the Airmax logo, not upside down!
It doesn’t look like the arabic version of the name. Someone has a comparison between the logo and an arabic script version that looks similar to the logo, the only problem is that is not the way it is typical written in arabic script. It looks similar but not the same to a very stylistic written version of the name.
This must be one of those ink blot tests. I see either a cloud, or another shoe. Otherwise, I did not realize Arabic script was so blob-like. Maybe if they cooled off, they’d see a bunny instead.
@Positive
Muslims refer to Hashem as Allah who is in no way evil
It is only extremists who bastardize the interpretation
in the Koran
Much the same as some of our brethren misinterpret the Torah
to their own ends
Show some respect.
You know they’ll fold.
My opinion – I don’t’ think Nike did it on purpose. Just like when Chevy made a Nova – which in Spanish me doesn’t go or when I bought a pair of Vans sneakers and the repeated pattern looked like magen dovids. However – I am however tired of the Muslim world and their demands. Especially in light of the fact that a magen dovid was purposely painted in the entrance to the Jordanian Labor Ministry for people to walk on – and Israeli athletes, chess players and scientists are routinely excluded from Muslim countries. When they will voice disgust at that sort of behavior – then perhaps I’ll consider their point – until then – their tantrums should not be acknowledged.
I dont understand. I dont like muslims either, but Nike or any other company can by mistake make a logo which resembles hashems name in hebrew. We would and should protest that if it would ever happen. Not sure why this news is even on ywn. Has nothing to do w anything in our lives. At most a conversation piece
I really, really don’t see “Allah” written there…not even remotely. Nonetheless, I agree with Miami and Chaim Meir…why the need to be soooooo din?????