Adidas boycott calls grow over "biological male" modeling women's swimsuit (2024)

Adidas is facing boycott calls amid a backlash over the sportswear giant's use of someone social media users described as a "biological male" to model a women's swimsuit.

The company on Monday announced its latest collaboration with South African designer Rich Mnisi as the Let Love Be Your Legacy collection and part of the company's Pride 2023 campaign.

Adidas has now joined Bud Light, Miller Lite, Nike, Target and others in the wave of right-wing condemnation as conservatives accuse companies of alienating their customer base by working with the LGBTQ+ community.

The apparel brand highlighted its partnership with the LGBTQ+ designer as a "shared ambition to encourage allyship and freedom of expression without bias, in all spaces of sport and culture."

Mnisi described his collection as "a symbol for self-acceptance and LGBTQ+ advocacy."

"My hope is this range inspires LGBTQ+ allies to speak up more for the queer people they love and not let them fight for acceptance alone," the designer said in a joint statement with Adidas.

On Wednesday, British influencer Oli London—who previously identified as transracial, gender neutral and transgender—shared images of the models in question on Twitter, sparking outrage across the social media platform.

London, who serves as a spokesperson for Caitlyn Jenner's political action committee Fairness First, also posted a photo of transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney modeling a women's sports bra. The collaboration with the TikToker saw Nike face backlash in April amid furor over her partnership with Bud Light.

"Nike and Adidas are at War to see which brand can become the Most WOKE!" London wrote. "Both brands are now using male models to advertise women's sports bras. Who wins the WOKE Award?"

"I'm running out of brands to wear," commented one Twitter user, prompting London to respond: "There doesn't seem to be a single brand left that isn't woke."

Sharron Davies, who represented Great Britain as a competitive swimmer between the 1970s and 1990s, shared her objections to the Adidas campaign.

"And yet again a male gets paid to advertise a product that's vastly aimed at women! Who are a physically different shape," Davies tweeted. "Adidas if you want to design a swim suit for trans women right on. They have different needs. But stop gaslighting women? When is msm going to start asking why & who is funding this, when we know it's not a financially good move (see Bud Light!)."

Davies, who is a vocal opponent of trans women competing in sport against biological women, added that "it's more & more moving towards an absolute assault on being female & what that means to women who are having all their descriptive words & rights eroded."

"The whole point of this has to be how far they can push us to fight back," wrote another detractor. "Bud Light is a great example to make of all these companies. They have to see the writing is on the wall and they have to do this now.

"If they win, we all lose and will suffer this forever. Women need to fight back and boycott all of this just like men (and some women) did with Bud Light. Only then can we get reality back."

"I am happy that men are going back to dominating every facet of the world, including women's swimwear," another Twitter user quipped.

"WOW I'm already boycotting Nike now I gotta boycott Adidas," said another. "Someone should make a list of non-woke companies so we can give them our business. I have 5 kids who I started buying Adidas for since I started my Nike boycott. Now I don't know what I'm going to buy them as far as shoes."

While the campaign was met with a wave of outrage, a number of other social media users dismissed and derided the furor.

One pointed out that the sustained complaints about the companies collaborating with the LGBTQ+ community could well help them in the long run.

"Nobody on this earth is ready to give so much free publicity to giant corporations than triggered conservatives," they wrote. "Bud light and now Adidas will be able to slash their marketing budget in half for the next quarter."

"Republicans spend a lot of time ogling people who are transgender. It's like they're obsessed," tweeted another.

Another stated that "watching conservatives absolutely foam at the mouth and pterodactyl screech over the new Adidas pride month ad is honestly the funniest thing I've ever seen in my life."

"It's hilarious how UN-AMERICAN you conservatives are," another chimed in. "You all scream LIBERTY and FREEDOM!—but that only seems to apply to white, heterosexual Christians. If Adidas or Bud Light wants to pander to gay people, WHO CARES. It's FREEDOM. And you're fascists."

Newsweek has contacted Adidas representatives via email for comment.

The catalyst for the wave of ongoing big brand boycott calls came after Bud Light sent social media personality Mulvaney a personalized beer can.

In early April, Mulvaney shared a video on Instagram in which she explained that Bud Light had sent her a can with her face on it to commemorate 365 days of her living as a woman. Mulvaney's Days of Girlhood video series, which charts her first year of transitioning, has been a viral success.

The partnership drew condemnation from a number of social media users, who issued calls for a boycott. Musician Kid Rock shared footage of himself opening fire on a stack of Bud Light cans, a move that was emulated by model Bri Teresi as she took aim at a range of brands.

Amid the criticism and reports of plummeting sales, some Bud Light executives took a leave of absence, including marketing head Alissa Heinerscheid and Daniel Blake, who oversees marketing for Anheuser-Busch's mainstream brands.

Conservative commentator Tomi Lahren this week shared a claim that "mass layoffs" were on the horizon at Bud Light in light of the fallout.