The German sportswear and footwear brand, Adidas, has an ethical, economic and business dilemma, all caused by the same person and his outlandish statements a few months ago.
The company broke its contractual link with Kanye West, known as ‘Ye‘, with whom it had a successful sneaker line, the famous Yeezy.
Experts in the field explain that the amount of money Adidas could lose is so large that it has rarely been seen in the fashion industry.
West‘s words last October went around the world for his anti-Semitism and hate speech, triggering the breakup between artist and brand.
What did Kanye West say?
In the podcast ‘Drink Champs’, the singer assured that George Floyd died from drug use and not from asphyxiation caused by the policeman Derek Chauvin, who stuck his knee in his neck for almost ten minutes and did not let him breathe.
During the fashion show in Paris, West appeared wearing a ‘White Lives Matter’ T-shirt in response to the ‘Black Lives Matter’ anti-racist movement.
The scandal of these actions caused Adidas to sever all ties with West, which includes the famous Yeezy sneaker line. The losses are estimated at around 1.27 billion dollars in revenue this year and a total of 500.3 million dollars in profit if it fails to sell the sneakers.
The sneakers cost from 200-600 dollars
The price of the Adidas Yeezy range from 200-600 dollars. There are several options to sell this stock, such as rebranding the shoes, selling them at a discount or renaming them as ‘Yeezy Zombies’.
However, these ideas are “risky propositions,” according to Tom Nikic, an economic analyst, because it would be “counterproductive from a public relations standpoint.”
“It would still look like they were benefiting from a collaboration with someone who made blatant anti-Semitic statements,” Nikic noted.
