SALT LAKE CITY — Thousands of people are calling for Nike to recall its Air Max 270 shoe because they feel the logo is offensive to Muslims, according to multiple reports.
The Change.org petition, which received 10,000 signatures in two weeks, says the logo looks rather similar to the word “Allah” written in Arabic script. “Allah” is Arabic for God.
Saiqa Noreen, who launched the petition, wrote that the logo “will surely be trampled, kicked and become soiled with mud or even filth.”
- “It is outrageous and appalling of Nike to allow the name of God on a shoe,” Noreen wrote. “This is disrespectful and extremely offensive to Muslims and insulting to Islam.”
- She also called on Nike to “recall this blasphemous and offensive shoe and all products with the design logo resembling the word Allah from worldwide sales immediately.”
A Nike spokesman told “Today” the logo is a stylized version of the Air Max trademark and it isn’t meant to be offensive.
- “Nike respects all religions and we take concerns of this nature seriously,” a Nike spokesman said in a statement to the “Today” style vertical. “The AIR MAX logo was designed to be a stylized representation of Nike’s AIR MAX trademark. It is intended to reflect the AIR MAX brand only. Any other perceived meaning or representation is unintentional.”
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), which is a Muslim civil right and advocacy organization, said it has received a number of complaints about the Nike logo, too.
- “A number of community members have reached out to us about the design,” Ibrahim Hooper, CAIR’s communications director, told “Today.”
Flashback: In 1997, Nike stopped selling a line of shoes because of a flame-shaped logo that critics said looked like the word “Allah, too,” according to The New York Times.
Similar: Last week, Amazon removed more than a dozen products that referenced the Prophet Muhammad, according to The Hill.