Association with Kanye West | A dilemma for Adidas

The leaders of the German company Adidas estimated on Friday that they could lose up to 1.7 billion Canadian dollars in turnover if they persist in keeping products designed in collaboration with Kanye West off the shelves.

It will be recalled that Adidas severed all commercial ties with the American rapper in 2022 after the latter made anti-Semitic comments on Twitter and Instagram. In these publications, deemed “unacceptable, hateful and dangerous” by Adidas, West notably proclaimed his admiration for Hitler and the Nazis, which led to him being suspended from Twitter by Elon Musk.

The musician’s decision to wear a White Lives Matter t-shirt during Paris Fashion Week in October 2022 also earned him a lot of criticism. Recall that the 45-year-old man also suggested that he could run for the presidency of the United States in 2024.

The provocative behavior of the artist puts Adidas in a dilemma since there is still a lot of unsold merchandise from the Yeezy collection, imagined by West (who now calls himself Ye). The German equipment manufacturer must therefore decide whether to put certain items back into circulation, such as futuristic-style shoes.

A costly decision

The decision to discontinue the Yeezy partnership and cease production of the merchandise will leave a $712 million hole in the organization’s projected 2023 profits. operating profit of another 712 million.

“The numbers speak for themselves. Currently, our performance is below what it should be, ”said Bjørn Gulden, general manager of Adidas, who took office a month ago, in a press release.

This announcement caused Adidas’ stock to fall by 10% last Friday. This would be its fourth decline since July.

According to Bloomberg, the association between the clothing manufacturer and the rap giant, initialed in 2020, brought in revenues of 2.4 billion for Adidas. It was due to expire in 2026.

With The Guardian