Adidas under fire for racist tweets after Twitter campaign to launch Arsenal kit hijacked

Adidas say they are "investigating the abuse of a Twitter mechanic" after an online campaign to launch the new Arsenal kit for the 2019/20 season was hijacked by social media users to display racist and offensive phrases.

The global sportswear brand's UK Twitter team launched the '#DareToCreate' campaign on social media this week which gave fans the opportunity to display their social media handles on the new kit, and even allowing fans to purchase a real-life version of the new strip with their online nicknames on it.

There was just one problem: the campaign was apparently designed without a suitably robust word filtering mechanism, which led to dozens of Arsenal strips displaying offensive terminology winging their way around the social media landscape.

Hours after the campaign's launch, messages invoking racist and anti-semitic phrases, as well as messages referencing Adolf Hitler, Madeline McCann and the Hillsborough disaster became widely distributed on social media.

In a statement released to the Huffington Post, Adidas said that they immediately ceased the promotion once they were made aware of it being abused. 

"As part of our partnership launch with Arsenal we have been made aware of the abuse of a Twitter personalisation mechanic created to allow excited fans to get their name on the back of the new jersey," Adidas said.

"Due to a small minority creating offensive versions of this we have immediately turned off the functionality and the Twitter team will be investigating."

Arsenal, meanwhile, released a separate statement in which they condemned the actions of the Twitter users who abused the campaign.

"We totally condemn the use of language of this nature, which has no place in our game or society," the club said.

Adidas' social media blunder comes two years after Walkers Crisps made a similar error in a campaign which afforded fans the opportunity to have their digital picture added to one of brand ambassador Gary Lineker, which instead descending into the ex-England footballer 'posing' with various criminals such as serial killers Dr. Harold Shipman and Fred West.