Koreans Are Unhappy with the Sale of Nike’s “Rising Sun” Air Jordan
I wonder how much not selling this shoe in South Korea impacts Nike’s bottom line? I would think not much considering they are moving forward with the sale of this shoe world wide. It seems to me that they will have problems trying to sell this shoe in China as well:
A professor at a university in Korea has sent a letter of protest to key executives at Nike about its iconic Michael Jordan shoes, calling for the sportswear giant to stop using the Japanese Rising Sun flag as a design on its sneakers.
Professor Seo Kyoung-duk at Sungshin Women’s University, who is also a dedicated Dokdo campaigner, said Thursday that he sent the letter to Nike President and CEO Mark Parker, Vice President for Design Tinker Hatfield, six other executives of the company and also Jordan.
He said the multinational market player and its high-profile shoes should consider the overwhelming impact of its products on young people worldwide.
This is the third time for the company to use the flag’s design on their shoes, a symbol of Japan’s militarism and imperialism in the late 19th and 20th centuries, despite criticism here in Korea, with the previous incidents occurring in 2009 and 2013.
“I wanted to let the company know what it did was wrong and why,” he said. “I would like to encourage the executives to avoid making the same mistakes in the future by helping them realize their insensitivity, indifference, and ignorance of historical facts.”
Alongside the letter, he sent a picture and video footage in English explaining that Japan’s Rising Sun flag symbolizes Japan’s wartime atrocities like the Hakenkreuz, or swastika, the symbol used by the Nazi Party in Germany. [The Korea Times]
You can read more at the link.
So, a lot of pop culture fashion designers fail to attend the required PC sensitivity classes. What else is new?
I was horrified to notice Air Jordans also have an individual serial number… just like a Jew in a camp!
It also has a big 23 on the back… which is the number of people executed in a Tale of Two Cities. Does nobody care about the French? AND Caesar was stabbed 23 times in Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar… an obvious offense to the Romans.
Walking all over the Rising Sun pales in comparison to these outrages.
…in fact, one would think Koreans would LOVE to walk all over the Rising Sun.
What was all the fuss about again?
Well, Nike did drop the ball with some shoes that may have had the word Allah on the sole or heel, but they caught it in time and removed the offending shoe from the market.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/nike-to-trash-trainers-that-offended-islam-1257776.html
And Islam appreciated the gesture so much, they never caused trouble in the world ever again!
I bought a pair of Nike Air once in Seoul and the “Air” went out the next day but Seoul, S. Korea wouldn’t refund me. FCKSKOREANIKE ❗
I bought a “Rolex” in Korea for $20. It was made of “Irish gold”. You know, the stuff you buy for Christmas that turns your wrist green in time for St Patrick’s Day… What a great deal!
“I bought a pair of Nike Air once in Seoul and the “Air” went out the next day but Seoul, S. Korea wouldn’t refund me.”
That would be part of the “You Huff It, You Buy It” policy.
And BONEHEAD posts yet another failure in his life. 🙄
Do you have any successes? Any at all? Ever?
I thought my response was funnier… 😉 He’s just such a sad sack needing counseling and probably AA…
So they are fine with the Unification Church symbol, but not MJ’s?
@Bloomfield, good point I never noticed the rising sun flag within the Unification Church symbol.