Nike has "pulled" a magazine ad campaign, via Wieden &
Kennedy (W&K), for its ACG Air Dri-Goat trail running shoe
"after disabilities-rights groups claimed the ads were
offensive," according to Ann Grimes of the WALL STREET
JOURNAL, who notes the ads appeared in several national and
nine regional outdoor magazines and "referred to people with
disabilities as 'drooling and misshapen.'" Copy from one ad
reads, "Right about now you're probably asking yourself,
'How can a trail running shoe with an outer sole designed
like a goat's hoof help me avoid compressing my spinal cord
into a Slinky on the side of some unsuspecting conifer.
Thereby rendering me a drooling, misshapen non-extreme-trail
running husk of my former self. Forced to roam the earth in
a motorized wheelchair with my name, embossed on one of
those cute little license plates you get at carnivals or
state fairs, fastened to the back?'" In a statement, Nike
Dir of U.S. Communications Lee Weinstein said, "We feel just
horrible about this ad. Clearly, disabilities of any form
are no laughing matter and that paragraph should not have
been included in the ad." Nike added that the ad was
"intended to show how the right equipment can prevent
injuries." W&K CEO Dan Wieden also apologized: "We have
stepped over the line with this advertisement and there is
no excuse for it" (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 10/26). In
Portland, Boaz Herzog cites Weinstein as saying that "about
600 people had called or e-mailed the company to complain"
about the ad. Weinstein added that "ironically," Nike is
"celebrating National Disability Employment Awareness Month"
(Portland OREGONIAN, 10/26). In Edmonton, Dan Palmer
reports that Dick Sobsey, whose 10-year-old son has cerebral
palsy and has a pair of Nike shoes, "may boycott Nike
products if its public apology ... isn't good enough."
Sobsey: "I felt betrayed and guilty that I bought [Nike
shoes] for my kid" (EDMONTON SUN, 10/26).