Adidas, the second largest sportswear manufacturer in the world, recognized all forms of love as equal in a recent Instagram post:
The company posted a photo to celebrate Valentine’s Day, captioned: “The love you take is equal to the love you make.” The photo is a creative shot of two females, wearing their Adidas sneakers. The photo implies the women are sharing a romantic moment on an empty street.
The post has since reached 280,000+ likes and 162,000+ comments. In these comments, however, there has been a split public response. The sporting company has been both praised for recognizing the equal right to love, and accused of “taking sides.”
Adidas did not let the negative comments stand on their own. The company responded quickly, and directly to users who commented. (Emoji game strong.)
Instagram user @americanhero decided the photo was enough to turn to Nike. Three days after the post, Nike announced they had dropped Manny Pacquiao’s endorsement due to offensive comments towards the LGBT community. Looks like @americanhero123 is running out of options.
This past Valentine’s Day was the first for many LGBTQ individuals to celebrate knowing their right to love is recognized nationwide. Adidas handled the situation by sticking to their beliefs instead of being influenced by customers.
Here are four other companies who also support love equality:
Starbucks-The Starbucks Headquarters, located in Seattle, replaced their beloved Seattle Seahawks flag with a gay pride flag in June of 2014. The flag was custom made in Wisconsin, and raised above the headquaters in celebration of the Seattle Pride Parade’s 40th anniversary.
Ben & Jerry’s: The ice cream company’s support of the LGBT community dates back to 1996. In honor of gay marriage, and other steps toward equality, the ice cream masters have created celebratory flavors. Chubby Hubby was renamed Hubby Hubby after Vermont legalized gay marriage in 2009. The company also created UK flavor “Apple-y Ever After,” Australia’s “ I Dough, I Dough,” and Ireland’s “EngageMint” to support marriage equality abroad.
Levi Strauss & Co.: The denim brand dedicated their efforts toward promoting empathy, freedom, courage, and global human rights. In 2007, Levi’s was the only California business to approach the California Supreme Court on matters pertaining to same sex marriage. Since then, the company has partnered with the Human Rights Campaign to design window displays and apparel in support of the LGBTQ community.
Uber: In honor of Pride Month, Uber’s marketing team promoted gay pride with a clever tech design. Their mobile app featured Uber cars driving with rainbow tails. Rainbows are a well known symbol that supports the gay community, and the design showed Uber’s support in a simple and subtle way.
Support from well-known brands and companies helps promote positive messages of acceptance and tolerance, and Adidas and companies like those above are setting an amazine example.
Simply stated, you go Adidas.