Nike apologises for marathon ad using the Holocaust phrase ‘Never Again’
The billboard used a black and red colour scheme and the phrase “Never Again. Until Next Year"
Sneaker maker Nike has apologised for using the phrase “Never Again” in a billboard placed along the route of Sunday’s London Marathon.
Critics of the billboard — featuring a red background and large black letters reading “Never Again. Until Next Year” — lambasted the company for using a phrase often used as a reminder to heed the lessons of the Holocaust.
“The idea that @Nike would make light of the holocaust using Hitler-red imagery in a post- 7 October world is stunning,” the activist Jewish investor Bill Ackman wrote on X.
“I don’t believe for a second there was any ill malice, but please understand the concern with using the words ‘Never Again,’ what they represent and why this was in poor taste,” tweeted Arsen Ostrovsky, an a lawyer and pro-Israel activist.
In its apology, obtained by the Forward, Nike said the temporary billboard was part of a campaign to “inspire runners and the copy was based on common phrases used by runners.” The phrase was meant to echo runners who often swear off long races immediately after completing one, only to return for another round later.
“We did not mean any harm and apologize for any we caused,” the company said.
Nike is not the first entity to court controversy for using an otherwise common term that at least since the 1960s has been associated with calls to prevent another Holocaust. In 2018, survivors of the deadly school shooting in Parkland, Florida, took the hashtag “#NeverAgain” to promote their national gun control campaign. The phrase has also been used in protests against Donald Trump’s Muslim ban during his first term, in remembrance of Japanese internment during World War II and recalling the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882.
In some of those cases, the adopters were at least directly or indirectly referencing the Holocaust and using “never again” as an injunction not to repeat the kinds of actions that lead to intolerance and genocide.
Writing in the conservative British magazine The Spectator, the columnist Jonathan Sacerdoti said he was stunned when he first saw the billboard in London.
“It would have taken just one set of discerning eyes, one solitary voice, one ‘sensitivity reader’ to raise a gentle objection,” wrote Sacerdoti, whose column last week focused on Holocaust remembrance. “Did not a single Jew suggest that it might be inappropriate? Did not a single non-Jew, with a grasp of history or an awareness of today’s climate, flag it? If not, why not? Was this ignorance, carelessness, or a chilling indifference? Either way, the result is insulting and profoundly distasteful.”
Thank you for helping to make Jewish News the leading source of news and opinion for the UK Jewish community. Today we're asking for your invaluable help to continue putting our community first in everything we do.
For as little as £5 a month you can help sustain the vital work we do in celebrating and standing up for Jewish life in Britain.
Jewish News holds our community together and keeps us connected. Like a synagogue, it’s where people turn to feel part of something bigger. It also proudly shows the rest of Britain the vibrancy and rich culture of modern Jewish life.
You can make a quick and easy one-off or monthly contribution of £5, £10, £20 or any other sum you’re comfortable with.
100% of your donation will help us continue celebrating our community, in all its dynamic diversity...
Engaging
Being a community platform means so much more than producing a newspaper and website. One of our proudest roles is media partnering with our invaluable charities to amplify the outstanding work they do to help us all.
Celebrating
There’s no shortage of oys in the world but Jewish News takes every opportunity to celebrate the joys too, through projects like Night of Heroes, 40 Under 40 and other compelling countdowns that make the community kvell with pride.
Pioneering
In the first collaboration between media outlets from different faiths, Jewish News worked with British Muslim TV and Church Times to produce a list of young activists leading the way on interfaith understanding.
Campaigning
Royal Mail issued a stamp honouring Holocaust hero Sir Nicholas Winton after a Jewish News campaign attracted more than 100,000 backers. Jewish Newsalso produces special editions of the paper highlighting pressing issues including mental health and Holocaust remembrance.
Easy access
In an age when news is readily accessible, Jewish News provides high-quality content free online and offline, removing any financial barriers to connecting people.
Voice of our community to wider society
The Jewish News team regularly appears on TV, radio and on the pages of the national press to comment on stories about the Jewish community. Easy access to the paper on the streets of London also means Jewish News provides an invaluable window into the community for the country at large.
We hope you agree all this is worth preserving.
