‘Cheat on Your Girlfriend’ Reebok Ads Pulled After Outcry
- Posted on March 23, 2012 at 4:43pm by
Mytheos Holt
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The shoe giant Reebok may have gone too far recently in catering to men with athletic inclinations and unrestrained appetites. A series of ads from the company that recently went up in Germany bore the following morally dubious message:
The reaction, especially among female users on Twitter, was immediate and scathing. Here’s just one example:
Well, the thousands of 140 character attacks may have actually registered. The PostGame reports today that Reebok is pulling the ads and apologizing profusely:
Reebok has been quick to apologize.
“We regret that some offensive Reebok materials were recently printed,” spokesman Dan Sarro said on Tuesday. “The signs were removed as soon as we were made aware of them. I can assure you that Reebok does not condone this message or cheating in any way. We apologize for the offensive nature of these materials, and are disappointed that they appeared at all.”[...]
The public image damage couldn’t come at a worse time for the company, which has seen its value plummet on the heels of a $25 million fine handed out for false claims as part of the company’s Easytone campaign.
There has been no indicator that Reebok also plans to send flowers and chocolates to their jilted customers, though based on the content of the ads in question, it would scarcely be inappropriate.
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Comments (51)
ContinentalArmy
Posted on March 24, 2012 at 4:11pmThat is so HILARIOUS!!!
Report Post »The Third Archon
Posted on March 24, 2012 at 2:59pm“The shoe giant Reebok may have gone too far recently in catering to men with athletic inclinations and unrestrained appetites.”
Report Post »You mean men? ;D
The Gooch
Posted on March 24, 2012 at 5:12pmThere are plenty of men with unrestrained appetites. Those with athletic inclinations (beyond watching others play and perform) aren’t nearly as numerous. If you have a pair of boobs, can you really still be called a man?
Report Post »Livia
Posted on March 25, 2012 at 3:58pmThe Gooch, you mean to tell me you’ve never heard of MOOBS?
Report Post »The Gooch
Posted on March 24, 2012 at 1:59pmMaybe they meant to imply you should cheat on your girlfriend with a Reebok shoe… ’cause that is how damn fine their shoes are.
Report Post »JEANNIEMAC
Posted on March 24, 2012 at 1:16pmRemember when Glenn Beck played an audio of a teleconference between the White House and over seventy members of the Arts and Endowments, asking them to use their talents to forward his agenda?
Report Post »His agenda is to indoctrinate the American public into acceptance of demeaning images of themselves.
Many TV programs, movies and advertisements are full of raunchy images,people lying to each other being portrayed as being amusing, favorite soap operas now showing sympathetic homosexual characters and old favorites being unfaithful to spouses, etc. etc. Planned Parenthood supplies pornographic cartoons to our public schools, portraying deviant sex and instructions.
A&E is funded by our taxpayer money.
JJStryder
Posted on March 24, 2012 at 11:03amHave you seen some of the athletic shoes today?No wonder they have to sell to the lowest common denominator. Clowns from the circus would love these things. Plastic bubbles and bright, clashing, ugly colors and soles that look like platforms from the 70′s. Really bad. I just went shoe shopping so I know. P.S. I bought nothing.
Report Post »waspanglosaxon
Posted on March 24, 2012 at 2:37amWell personally, I would never cheat on my girlfriend…I’m too scared both she and my wife might find out about it!
Report Post »fabercastell
Posted on March 23, 2012 at 9:26pmAren’t they just admitting reality? I thought most muscular guys were full of themselves. Thinking about what the gals think of them or maybe so into themselves they don’t care much about their GFs. I thought some might be a little light on their feet..not saying that in a bad way, just the way some people are. okay. well i offended some I’m sure. just saying, they were going with reality in my opinion.
Report Post »mountainmover101
Posted on March 23, 2012 at 8:22pmActually, it is a clever ad.
Report Post »Rational Man
Posted on March 23, 2012 at 7:29pmJust another sign of the moral decline in America and the world. I don’t know what I did to get targeted, but I get email spam about married women that want to fool around. There is no ‘un-subscribe’ option either. I have to put up with this immoral garbage spaming my email. Stuff that used to be considered immoral and taboo, is now mainstream. I am definitely a pilgrim in a strange land………….
Report Post »Livia
Posted on March 25, 2012 at 4:00pmI get spam wanting to give me cheap viagra. However, I am a female, so I don’t need that stuff in more ways than one!
Report Post »cookcountypatriot
Posted on March 23, 2012 at 6:47pmoh i get it….it was geared towards men cheating on thier girlfrnds…thats a no no…if it was an ad for women to cheat and fluke around,,well then that would have been pc and acceptable…see women in the pc world can do anything they wish..uh huh
Report Post »oh_yeah
Posted on March 23, 2012 at 7:23pmyes, later
Report Post »HorseCrazy
Posted on March 23, 2012 at 7:29pmhaha fluke around I almost choked when I read that
Report Post »welovetheUSA
Posted on March 23, 2012 at 6:43pmAmazing how these huge companies Hire these foolish idiots to do commercials……..ould do great commercials in my PJ’s………..these silly young people who have no morals..no religion..no faith of any kind..gives them the right to further destroy the American family and our values.
Report Post »Tolkayn
Posted on March 23, 2012 at 6:49pmThis is at the core of most of todays issues. Do you know what we call “money” actually is and where it is created? Surprisingly, most people have no idea. This video explains what money actually is. It will open your eyes to see just how we’ve been conned! http://www_themoneyfix_org/content/video-money-fix
Report Post »JustPeachy
Posted on March 23, 2012 at 6:03pmWay to sell shoes (or any product for that matter!). DUMB.
Unless someone within Reebok WANTED to hurt the company. . . that makes more sense, actually. . . Either that or someone in their marketing department is really BAD at what he/she does!
Report Post »Baddoggy
Posted on March 23, 2012 at 5:56pmThey have the right to advertise whatever they want. They also have the right to get the glory and the insults. That is what a free market is all about.
I dont care for the ad but I think they were spineless to pull it. Just like I think Rush was spineless to apologize to Fluke. People are so afraid of what others think of them…Not me.
Report Post »KyleD
Posted on March 23, 2012 at 5:46pmWho cares if you cheat on your girlfriend or boyfriend? If you cared at all about some sort of moral code you’d get married.
Report Post »TomFerrari
Posted on March 23, 2012 at 6:01pmWhen did it become wrong to date more than one woman at a time?
(Or guy, if you’re a woman)
Remember phrases like, “best girl” and “going steady?”
Is it related to the promiscuity of the upcoming generation?
Is that why they all seem to date exclusively?
It ain‘t cheating if you’re not committed to an exclusive relationship.
Now I wonder if the outrage would have been equal if it had read, “cheat on your spouse” or “cheat on your partner?”
Report Post »KyleD
Posted on March 23, 2012 at 7:27pmIn some religious circles this practice is still going strong because you don‘t have sex until you’re married. You go out with as many people as possible to know what you like and what you don’t like, what works with you and what doesn’t, and then when you find someone you really like you start “going steady” until you decide she’s the one and pluck up the courage to ask her to marry you.
Report Post »kevinj319
Posted on March 23, 2012 at 5:45pmA feel-good message it ain’t, but I wouldn’t have glanced twice at it because I am not
CONSTANTLY OFFENDED BY EVERYTHING.
Let me now go state how I will never buy Reebok even though I never have anyway.
Report Post »RJJinGadsden
Posted on March 23, 2012 at 5:41pmYou would think with the BK Knights’ CEO debacle some years back, these running shoe companies would keep some of their idiotic ideas to themselves.
Report Post »CatB
Posted on March 23, 2012 at 5:19pmReal Men (and women) don’t cheat. Someone in the ad department — epic fail!
Report Post »Polarized America
Posted on March 23, 2012 at 5:50pm“”epic-fail”……nope ….advertisers know exactly what their doing, like PETA, they do things like this to get people talking about their stuff
Report Post »MeteoricLimbo
Posted on March 23, 2012 at 5:14pmIt’s looking more and more like Paul Harvey had it pegged in 65
Report Post »Rayblue
Posted on March 23, 2012 at 5:07pmReeboks fall apart fast.
Report Post »Like a cheap dime store paperback novel about a nightful of cheaters.
TomFerrari
Posted on March 23, 2012 at 6:05pmChinese made shoes with glued on soles, fall apart quickly. Some will even fail just by getting them wet.
Report Post »SeeingThingsClearly
Posted on March 23, 2012 at 5:03pmIn sending chocolates and flowers to all the disappointed customers (undoubtedly majority women) they are just living down to the “joke” they’ve already made. That’s just adding insult.
Report Post »SeeingThingsClearly
Posted on March 23, 2012 at 5:45pmJust saw that it was the author that make the quip about chocolates and flowers…i recant that part. Still. These people knew their ad was controversial…and to say “once this came to our attention” is BS. They knew what they were advertising.
Report Post »kevinj319
Posted on March 23, 2012 at 5:45pmPlease learn to read.
Report Post »HorseCrazy
Posted on March 23, 2012 at 7:31pmI agree they knew this would be controversial they just didn’t think their would be backlash. idiots I cannot figure out with all the awful advertising these days why they don’t understand offending people is not a way to get customers.
Report Post »brooksjk
Posted on March 23, 2012 at 4:59pmIf the ad would have said, “Cheat on your boyfriend (or husband), not your workout” we never would have heard a word about it.
Report Post »usaywhat
Posted on March 23, 2012 at 4:57pmchecking
Report Post »Mark0331
Posted on March 23, 2012 at 4:53pmOnly the weak and cowardly cheat.
Report Post »RepubliCorp
Posted on March 23, 2012 at 6:48pmtell that to the mafia……….you didn’t color within the lines boys. LOL
Report Post »Mark0331
Posted on March 23, 2012 at 7:21pm@REPUBLICORP…I live in Jersey, so your statement is spot on…LOL
Report Post »Itsjusttim
Posted on March 23, 2012 at 4:48pmHey, misery loves company, and in it‘s final moments it’s trying to trap as many people in limbo as it can.
Report Post »Itsjusttim
Posted on March 23, 2012 at 4:51pmI’m sure you can see it standing up in people, with even some family members doing or saying odd things that sound foreign to their lips.
Report Post »MDDAWG
Posted on March 23, 2012 at 5:45pmWhat are you saying?
Report Post »Locked
Posted on March 23, 2012 at 4:46pmWould have been a lot more successful if they had said “Cheat on your taxes…”
Report Post »MadenNZ
Posted on March 23, 2012 at 4:52pmOr cheat on your ‘Diet’ :) Dumb Asses!
Report Post »swmopatriot
Posted on March 23, 2012 at 5:04pmYes but that might bring on the IRS maggots
Report Post »TomFerrari
Posted on March 23, 2012 at 6:07pmCheat at solitaire, not on your workout.
Report Post »jcvillar
Posted on March 24, 2012 at 3:12amFunny you should say that. I‘m doing my taxes right now on TurboTax 2011 and you have inspired me to deduct the cost of these Reeboks I’m wearing. . . .
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