Is the Weirdest Chocolate/Sportswear Tie-In of All Time ... Tony’s + Adidas?
As a general rule, I do not wear or carry overtly-branded clothing or other forms of merchandise. If brands want to pay me to promote them I *might* be down for it. But not for this. I am not down for paying for the “privilege” of shilling this stuff.
I ran across Tony’s/Adidas co-branded tracksuits before heading to Ecuador in October, but put off doing anything with the find. I remember the prices being not cheap (the track pants in size 3XS are being offered for $80 on one site), with no mention that any proceeds were earmarked to help cocoa farmers.
So I am guessing this was all (only?) about making it possible for Tony’s “special friends” to fly them some of those funkybright house colors Tony’s flies.
When I went back to the Adidas web store to follow up, the tracksuits were no longer available. And, in fact, only a few of the items shown below (the white trainers in the gallery below, for one) were still available – and most appear to be out of stock on third-party sites, so I am thinking the promotional tie-in is over.
Whew (wiping brow).
But still ... what was Adidas thinking?
Jason Burke
I am thinking that it maybe had something to do with greenwashing by association? Maybe? Now, I don’t know anything from inside sources; just from what I read that is publicly available on the interwebs, so that’s an expression of my opinion.
But still ...
What say you?
The Gallery of Weirdness
However, I did not take any of these images. I found them in online catalogs. I do not know who actually owns the underlying copyrights. However, I believe their use qualifies as a fair use under US copyright doctrine. I suppose I could also call their use in this post a parody on my part, but, I think, they are self-parodic in their own right.
If a legitimate rightsholder wants to contest my use of the images, here’s how to send a DMCA takedown notice.
Let us know in the comments.