Decoded: Adidas-Bella Hadid controversy & its link to 1972 Munich Olympics

Adidas took down an ad campaign that was launched last week to revive its iconic SL72 shoes ahead of the Paris Olympics 2024, featuring supermodel Bella Hadid

Apparel brand Adidas, last week, took down an advertising campaign linked to the 1972 Munich Olympics featuring noted supermodel Bella Hadid after facing intense criticism from pro-Israel organisations.

The campaign was taken down for ‘revision’ after the state of Israel, American Jewish Committee (ACJ) and others criticised Adidas for featuring Hadid, a half-Palestinian model, in a campaign that was meant to honour the 1972 Munich Olympics — the same event when a deadly terror attack by a Palestinian militant group had killed 11 Israelis.

What was the 1972 Munich Olympic massacre?

11 Israelis of its Olympic team, coaches and a German police officer were killed by a group called Black September at the 1972 Summer Olympics. Eight members of the organisation had breached the Olympics compound on September 5 to enter the apartments used by the Israeli teams and carry out the attack.

 

.@Adidas recently launched a new campaign for their shoes to highlight the 1972 Munich Olympics.

Eleven Israelis were murdered by Palestinian terrorists during the Munich Olympics.

Guess who the face of their campaign is? Bella Hadid, a half-Palestinian model who has a history… pic.twitter.com/IgdGq2OLmd

— Israel ישראל (@Israel) July 18, 2024

The state of Israel in a post on social media platform X (formerly Twitter) accused Hadid of spreading anti-Jewish conspiracies and sought clarification from Adidas for the campaign.

“For Adidas to pick a vocal anti-Israel model to recall this dark Olympics is either a massive oversight or intentionally inflammatory,” ACJ said, asking Adidas to fix the ‘mistake’.

What was the Adidas Olympic campaign featuring Bella Hadid?

For the Munich Olympics back then, Adidas had launched its classic SL72 shoes. Its latest campaign sought to promote the vintage sneaker series ahead of the 2024 Paris Olympics that will commence this week. For the campaign, the apparel major partnered with Hadid, however, it did not go well with the Israeli supporters in the wake of the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas, the militant group that governs Gaza.

How is Bella Hadid linked to Palestine?

Hadid is a vocal Palestine supporter and has repeatedly criticised Israel’s ‘occupation’ of Palestine and its ongoing offensive in Gaza that began in October. Hadid’s father Mohammad Hadid is a Palestinian, whose parents fled Palestine in 1948, the year of ‘Nakba’ when the region’s widespread population was displaced after the 1948 Arab-Israeli war.

Both Bella and her model sister Gigi Hadid have spoken about the ‘generational’ trauma they faced due to the ‘expulsion’ of their ancestors.

Adidas apologises over the controversy

Following the pressure from the Israeli groups, the German apparel brand apologised on Friday for causing ‘distress’ with its campaign but maintained that its actions were unintentional.

According to some media reports, Hadid is said to be mulling legal action against Adidas over the incident.