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Adidas offers to help high schools eliminate Native American mascots


nash61

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I wonder how different the tone of this thread would be if it was Nike.

Indeed.
If it used the same rules I'd say it'd be similar. But I think the reason most seem to be against it is because it seems to come from a point of desperation disquised as altruism.

I wonder how different the tone of this thread would be if it was Nike.

Indeed.
If it used the same rules I'd say it'd be similar. But I think the reason most seem to be against it is because it seems to come from a point of desperation disquised as altruism.

Is adidas desperate? I know we trash them pretty hard here for their crappy cfb work, but is that really what's making them desperate? I've never heard that the company is in trouble.

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I think the company is doing just fine.. Sure, they're working pretty hard to be relevant in CFB again (with more misses than hits), but they still excel in several other areas on a massive global scale..

I think they're in this for more than just the warm fuzzy feeling, but certainly not desperation.

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I don't have any brand loyalty...they've all done good things and bad things. The very culture of the game is the problem. Overall, Adidas has done a very good job with NBA primaries (exception: not replicating the Blue Jays numbers in Memphis). But, of course, they have too many alts and most of 'em are awful. UA has made Maryland look like clowns. Adidas has done some goofy stuff in college football. But so has Nike. To me they are all doing the same thing: making the uniforms about them and not the teams/schools. I know that as long as the teams/schools allow it, that'll happen. But why is Adidas so bad? Why is Nike so good?

And regarding quality, I do not understand why it's a given that Nike = good and Adidas = bad. I feel the NFL quality has plummeted since Nike took over. Sweat boxes. The Eagles in black because the green could not be produced. I don't remember these problems in the Reebok days. And while Reebok made some bad choices (Falcons, Bengals, etc.), it always seemed like "lame trend" to me. With Nike, the Seahawks are not following a "lame trend" they are "Team Nike." In any case each company did some good things and some bad things.

Anyway, maybe this is not conveyable to a non-industry person like myself, but I just don't understand the love of Nike and hate of Adidas around here.

Disclaimer: If this comment is about an NBA uniform from 2017-2018 or later, do not constitute a lack of acknowledgement of the corporate logo to mean anything other than "the corporate logo is terrible and makes the uniform significantly worse."

 

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They are absolutely not doing fine. They have been consistently losing US market share for a decade now (UA has overtaken them putting adi at #3) and are seriously struggling for relevance for the 2 most important US sports: basketball and football. They got outbid for the nfl, couldn't make money in the nba, lost their asses with reebok and have a very poor stable of colleges that they sponsor. They are a huge company that still has strength in international football which is their one profitable sector but in terms of large global corporations they are a company that is in serious trouble of fading into irrelevance in the US which is likely close to 50% of the overall market and they cannot survive on soccer alone.

They are trying to reboot the US with new management and attempting to reinvest in football and basketball but it may be too late. Basketball may be salvaged by the designers they snagged from nike but I think football will struggle for the foreseeable future.

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http://www.elkharttruth.com/news/schools/goshen-high-school/2015/11/16/Goshen-School-Board-approves-new-mascot-to-replace-longtime-Redskins-moniker.html

Not sure if Adidas was involved (the story above doesn't say), but Goshen High School in northern Indiana voted to change their mascot from the Redskins to the RedHawks. The name beat out Gladiators, Spartans, and Wolf Pack with 53% of the vote. All four logos were very well done (which makes me think someone like Adidas may have been involved).

Goshen-mascot-group.JPG

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http://www.elkharttruth.com/news/schools/goshen-high-school/2015/11/16/Goshen-School-Board-approves-new-mascot-to-replace-longtime-Redskins-moniker.html

Not sure if Adidas was involved (the story above doesn't say), but Goshen High School in northern Indiana voted to change their mascot from the Redskins to the RedHawks. The name beat out Gladiators, Spartans, and Wolf Pack with 53% of the vote. All four logos were very well done (which makes me think someone like Adidas may have been involved).

Goshen-mascot-group.JPG

funny stuff

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I wish that instead of just trying to eliminate Native American themes altogether, more effort would be put towards finding positive Native American themes to use. There's a lot of wonderful and interesting visuals, colors, styles, etc. that come along with Native American themes, and it'd be a shame to throw the baby out with the bathwater, so to speak. Too often the question when something's wrong is "how do we not do this," when it should be "how do we do this right."

Seattle Seahawks are a perfect example. That bird is taken right off a Pac NW style totem pole.

I think the consensus is to depict the imagery and essence, not the people themselves. It would be similar to a team using plaid tartan patterns and using a neutral mascot instead of simply calling themselves the Scotsmen.

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That seems a fair assessment. The Canucks is another one; I'm not aware of any significant controversy around their First Nations-inspired logo. Representing an animal rather than a person probably helps in both cases.

For myself, I draw a clear distinction between jobs (Braves, Chiefs) and people (Indians). Washington's name is another thing altogether.

But I also recognize its not my line to draw. The people who get to make the decision may feel differently.

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