DUBAI: German sportswear giant Adidas has apologized after facing social media backlash over an e-mail it sent out on Tuesday congratulating runners in the Boston Marathon for having “survived” the race.
Many online slammed the company on its choice of words as memories of the deadly 2013 marathon bombing remain fresh in people’s minds.
“Congrats, you survived the Boston Marathon!” Adidas said in the subject line of an e-mail it sent to the 26,492 participants who finished the annual race Monday.
Social media users were quick to criticize the e-mail.
“Poor choice of words for the Boston marathon,” one Twitter user said.
.@adidasoriginals @adidas poor choice of words for the Boston marathon. pic.twitter.com/fxfL9o8SBB
— jared hale (@That_TechGuy_) April 18, 2017
Another tweeted: “@adidas you may want to rethink the subject line.”
.@adidas you may want to rethink the subject line pic.twitter.com/curUb8FieO
— Mike Denison (@mikd33) April 18, 2017
The official Twitter account of Adidas North America, with the handle @adidasUS, rushed to apologize.
“We are incredibly sorry. Clearly, there was no thought given to the insensitive e-mail subject line we sent Tuesday,” it tweeted.
“We deeply apologize for our mistake.”
— adidas (@adidasUS) April 18, 2017
On April 15, 2013, two brothers of Chechen descent, Tamerlan and Dzokhar Tsarnaev, planted pressure-cooker bombs near the Boston Marathon finish line, killing three people and injuring 264 others.
The Boston Marathon is the world’s oldest annual marathon and one of the most prestigious races over the distance of just over 42 kilometers on the athletics calendar.
