Nike has issued the following statement to the media on its commercial endorsement of Oscar Pistorius. Pistorius was arrested following the shooting death of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp early Thursday morning.
“Nike extends its deepest sympathy and condolences to all families concerned following this tragic incident. As it is a police matter, Nike will not comment further at this time.”
Commentators are already questioning the appropriateness of ad collateral produced for Nike including its ‘Nike – My body is my weapon’ campaign that featured Pistorius.
“Pistorius’ website pulled the ad [I am the bullet in the chamber – see below] because of its obvious bad taste given the situation,” wrote Jay Busbee on Yahoo Sports. “Question: is it in bad taste regardless of the new revelations? Is weaponry and violence too serious of a metaphor to employ so casually in marketing?”
See also:
Oscar Pistorius sponsors awaiting results of police investigation
M-Net pulls Oscar Pistorius ‘Oscar’ campaign from screens
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