Afrasianet - The repercussions of the crisis sparked by sportswear company Adidas continue after it launched a promotional ad showing former Israeli soldier Shalev Biton trying on a sneaker inside a store in Israel and then running using his prosthetic limb.
The move cast a heavy shadow on social media platforms, unleashing a wave of anger that translated into calls and intensive campaigns to boycott the German company under the names of #قاطعوا_أديداس and #BoycottAdidas.
The announcement drew sharp criticism, with activists and human rights activists saying the choice of an Israeli soldier as the front of the campaign represents a blatant and provocative disregard for the suffering of thousands of Palestinians.
Human rights activists and supporters of the Palestinian cause have pointed out that Israel's war of extermination on the Gaza Strip has resulted in the amputation of the limbs of more than 6,000 Palestinians, most of them children.
Digital platforms countered the announcement by publishing photos and videos documenting the tragedy of Gaza's amputated children, in an attempt to shed light on the real victims who were absent from the cameras of international companies.
Adidas logo with a caricature
The anger was not limited to tweets, but turned into a visual and artistic uprising, where a number of cartoonists decided to express their protest by redrawing the famous "Adidas" logo to simulate the bloody reality in Gaza, as the painter Kamal Sharaf placed a helmet of Israeli soldiers on top of the logo, while filling in the blanks in the word "Adidas" with children's skulls.
The painter Alaa Al-Luqta replaced the famous three lines that make up the company's logo with three white shrouds, in an eloquent symbolic reference to the scale of the massacres.
Antonio Rodriguez designed the logo in the form of a "Star of David" dripping with blood, flanked by a boy and a girl with amputees.
One of the illustrators depicted an amputated Israeli soldier holding a "chainsaw" in his hand after amputating the limbs of a group of Gazans, and then presented him with shoes bearing the logo of the German company.
Another painter turned the company's logo into a pile of rubble on which Gaza's children stood.
Bloggers and tweeters summed up the outrage by highlighting what they described as the "shocking paradox." One tweeter commented: "This paradox needs an accommodating pause, the company comes with a soldier from the occupation army, the same army that has caused thousands of amputations and permanent disabilities of Gaza's children, to make him the hero of its campaign."
Others said in their analysis of the advertisement's veiled message: "Instead of paying attention to Gaza's children who have lost limbs and their future, the company chose to polish the image of the Israeli soldier to say to the world: 'This is the face of our humanitarian campaign.'"
They added: "The choice of the face of the campaign is a message in itself, as if Adidas is telling us that only the Israeli soldier deserves to export his tragedy and sympathize with his humanity, while there is no place in this scene for the tens of thousands of Gaza's wounded and children whose lives have been forever mutilated."
Javier Bardem calls for a boycott of Adidas
Spanish actor Javier Bardem calls for a boycott of Adidas in protest of the use of an Israeli soldier in an advertising campaign promoting the service of selling one shoe to people who have lost a limb.
Spanish actor Javier Bardem joined a campaign calling for a boycott of Adidas, protesting the use of an Israeli soldier in an advertising campaign promoting the service of selling one shoe to people who have lost a limb.
Bardim posted a message on his Instagram account calling for a boycott of the company, expressing solidarity with the Palestinians, and calling for financial support for a Palestinian family.
Bardim's stance is an extension of a series of public positions he has taken in recent years in support of Palestine and criticism of the war on Gaza and the policies of the Israeli government.
The Spanish actor appeared during the 2026 Oscars wearing a badge associated with the character "Hanzala", and called for an end to the war and the freedom of Palestine.
Among those who signed a pledge to boycott Israeli film institutions involved in supporting the occupation or justifying the war were also among those who signed a pledge.
Bardem's global fame gives the campaign extra momentum, as it shifts the call for a boycott from political and cultural circles to the spectacle of sports, fashion and consumer products.
On the other hand, despite pressure and calls to boycott it, the German sportswear company "Adidas" apologized on Monday, through its Arabic account on the Instagram platform, for launching an advertising campaign in which it included an Israeli soldier.
Adidas Arabia's account is relatively poorly reached, with only 1.4 million followers, a figure that does not compare to the number of followers of its global account of more than 29.6 million.
In a statement of apology in Arabic and English, which it shared via the "Stories" section of Instagram, which automatically disappears after 24 hours, Adidas said: "We are aware that a photo used in a recent local activity has raised reservations and strong reactions."
"It was in no way our intention to cause offense, and we apologise to all those affected, acknowledge these reservations that have been raised, and take them very seriously," she claimed.
Adidas said the campaign was "a local initiative and not part of a global campaign".
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