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The media has been strangely quiet about Adidas’s lawsuit against Black Lives Matter.

The ‘brand with the three stripes’ launched a copyright infringement suit against BLM for the use said stripes on the latter’s new clothing range, set to hit a protest near you this fall.

Adidas pointed out that the use of three stripes on tekkies and t-shirts has always been their thing, and now BLM was highjacking the aforementioned stripes.

“Adidas added three bars to all of their products in 1971, and they referred to themselves as the “three stripe company.”

In an unexpected twist, Adidas pulled its lawsuit almost immediately and hasn’t said a word since. Whether it was the threat of being shooketh by BLM that made them tuck tail and run is perhaps not such a crazy reason.

“Adidas will withdraw its opposition to the Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation’s trademark application as soon as possible.”

The two stripe-loving movements share a strange history, and during a recent hoo-ha, Adidas raised the ire of Twitter by simply retweeting Nike’s support for the Pro-Black movement – kind of like the Twitter version of “What they said”.

 

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But their histories run deeper than recent cultural happenings.

Adidas – then Dassler Shoes – got its first big break when Adolf Dassler drove to the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin with a suitcase full of cleats and convinced sprinter Jesse Owens to wear them in the competition.

So even before BLM were raising their fist in protest, Adidas was already helping a black man shove it to the Nazi’s. But those were different times and perhaps Adidas just wants to stay out of politics nowadays. It sure was simpler to identify the good guys back then.

One stripe, two stripes, three stripes, whatever. I’ll stick to my kicks with their single Puma on them.

[source:highsnobiety&adidas]