On April 15, 2013, two men were responsible for planting bombs that would kill three, including a child, and injure over 250 others. This attack, known as the Boston Marathon Bombing, would change lives forever. More than 20,000 people show up to run this event, with thousands more cheering on the sidelines. Even more so nowadays, people come out in solidarity to support the runners, the victims, and the marathon.
Imagine the surprise of 2017 Boston Marathon runners when they received an "insensitive" email from Adidas, a major sponsor for the Boston Marathon. The email, sent after the 2017 race, had a subject line of “Congrats, you survived the Boston Marathon!” Although four years after the bombing, this subject line was under fire. People everywhere were sharing this subject line and email, criticizing Adidas for not being more empathetic. How could a major sponsor be so lackadaisical? How could they easily forget what happened four years prior, when it had such a large impact on the community, the country and the world.
Although the email meant to be congratulatory to the runners who completed the race- and to sell Adidas apparel- nobody took it this way. Adidas issued a statement with an apology immediately, and it was received well. So well, in fact, that Adidas is still a major sponsor for the Boston Marathon to this day. Lucky for them, this insensitive subject line didn’t ruin their partnership. Money talks, I guess?
What could Adidas do differently?
Adidas did the right thing by issuing an apology, and did so on public platforms like Twitter, so mass followers can see. In addition, Adidas reiterated the importance of the race, and what it means for people, during their apology. I don’t know that I would have done anything differently, had I been in the position. For example, recalling the email wasn’t an option, as they had been sent, received and opened. Unlike a Tweet or Facebook post, Adidas couldn’t just delete their action. The only way this could have been prevented would be if Adidas has realized their error before they sent the email. From here on out, I would make sure multiple sets of eyes review their marketing slogans. Even though this email was meant to be harmless, congratulate and sell products, consumers felt the subject line was insensitive. Overall, Adidas handled this firestorm extremely well, and were able to maintain their sponsorship.
References:
Calfas, J. (2017, April 18). Adidas Apologizes After Sending ‘You Survived’ Email to Boston Marathon Finishers. Time. Retreived from https://time.com/4745066/adidas-boston-marathon-email/
CNN. (2019, April 9). Boston Marathon Terror Attack Fast Facts. Retrieved from https://www.cnn.com/2013/06/03/us/boston-marathon-terror-attack-fast-facts/index.html
Flaherty, B. (2017, April 18). Adidas apologizes for email congratulating runners who ‘survived’ Boston Marathon. The Washington Post. Retrieved from https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/early-lead/wp/2017/04/18/adidas-apologizes-for-email-congratulating-runners-who-survived-boston-marathon/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.6842f62d8138
Humprheys, A. (2016). Social Media: Enduring Principles. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
USA Today Sports. (2017, April 18). Adidas apologizes for email congratulating runners on 'surviving' Boston Marathon. Retrieved from https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/2017/04/18/adidas-email-surviving-boston-marathon/100605882/
Hi Amanda, good choice on the topic. I was not aware of this Adidas mishap but I do agree that this was insensitive on their part. As a consumer sports company it is really embarrassing to have been associated with a subject line of that nature. I am a big fan of the brand but I can't help to think that there needs to be more internal communication on sensitive subjects. It could be possible that the person responsible for sending out the email was not impacted by the incident and therefore did not have this on their radar. However, your recommendation around having a second set of eyes reviewing is a good idea. I too think that they did…