Adidas Withdraws Sexualised World Cup T-shirts After Brazil Backlash
Adidas withdrew a series of risqué Brazil-themed World Cup T-shirts after an outcry from Brazil’s official tourism board. The controversial tees appeared to promote sexual tourism and the stereotypical sexualisation of women in Brazil.
In February 2014, ahead of the 2016 football World Cup tournament that was held in Brazil, international sports brand giant, Adidas, released two controversial T-shirts on their company’s website which generated repudiation by the host country.
The sexualised T-shirts played off the clichéd stereotypes of Brazilian women being hyper-sexual and sexually available.
Adidas’ Sexualised Brazil T-Shirts
One of the T-shirts depicts a cartoon image of a woman holding a football in a bikini on a beach in Rio de Janeiro, with Sugarloaf Mountain in the background and the words "Lookin’ to Score."
The “Lookin’ to Score” message has both a football connotation of scoring a goal, and a sexual connotation of having sex with Brazilian women. The T-shirt’s imagery gives the impression that beautiful scantily-clad women are sexually available in Brazil for foreign tourists.
The second T-shirt has an, “I love Brazil” with the heart shape replacing the word “love” in the shape of a woman’s upside down buttocks wearing a bikini thong.
Both of the offending T-shirts were overtly sexual and appear to encourage sex tourism, which caused outrage amongst many people in Brazil who have long campaigned against the sexualised image of Brazilian women promoted abroad.
Tired Stereotypes
Brazil’s official tourism board (Embratur), publicity criticised Adidas and said it “vehemently repudiated the sale of products that link Brazil’s image to sexual appeal.” It later asked the German sports company to stop selling the T-shirts. Flávio Dino, president of Embratur, referred to the T-shirts as;
“a disrespect for society and especially for the dignity of Brazilian women.”
Brazil’s Human Rights minister, Maria do Rosário, congratulated Embratur for publicly repudiating the multinational sports brand company;
“Brazil is not a destination for sex tourism, it does not accept sexual exploitation and this attitude that the ministry and Embratur had was fair with the women and girls of Brazil.”
The controversial shirts also irked Brazil's government, which is campaigning aggressively to shed the country's reputation as a haven for sex tourism. Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff tweeted:
"Brazil is happy to receive tourists for the World Cup, but it is also ready to combat sex tourism."
Following the criticism, Adidas announced removed the T-shirts, adding in a statement that they were from a limited edition that was only available in the United States;
"Adidas always heeds the opinion of its consumers and partners and therefore announces that it will stop selling the products in question."
Maria do Rosário, welcomed the decision and hoped that the episode would;
"serve as an example of Brazil's respect for the world.”
Adidas withdrew a series of risqué Brazil-themed World Cup T-shirts after an outcry from Brazil’s official tourism board. The controversial tees appeared to promote sexual tourism and the stereotypical sexualisation of women in Brazil.
In February 2014, ahead of the 2016 football World Cup tournament that was held in Brazil, international sports brand giant, Adidas, released two controversial T-shirts on their company’s website which generated repudiation by the host country.
The sexualised T-shirts played off the clichéd stereotypes of Brazilian women being hyper-sexual and sexually available.
Adidas’ Sexualised Brazil T-Shirts
One of the T-shirts depicts a cartoon image of a woman holding a football in a bikini on a beach in Rio de Janeiro, with Sugarloaf Mountain in the background and the words "Lookin’ to Score."
The “Lookin’ to Score” message has both a football connotation of scoring a goal, and a sexual connotation of having sex with Brazilian women. The T-shirt’s imagery gives the impression that beautiful scantily-clad women are sexually available in Brazil for foreign tourists.
The second T-shirt has an, “I love Brazil” with the heart shape replacing the word “love” in the shape of a woman’s upside down buttocks wearing a bikini thong.
Both of the offending T-shirts were overtly sexual and appear to encourage sex tourism, which caused outrage amongst many people in Brazil who have long campaigned against the sexualised image of Brazilian women promoted abroad.
Tired Stereotypes
Brazil’s official tourism board (Embratur), publicity criticised Adidas and said it “vehemently repudiated the sale of products that link Brazil’s image to sexual appeal.” It later asked the German sports company to stop selling the T-shirts. Flávio Dino, president of Embratur, referred to the T-shirts as;
“a disrespect for society and especially for the dignity of Brazilian women.”
Brazil’s Human Rights minister, Maria do Rosário, congratulated Embratur for publicly repudiating the multinational sports brand company;
“Brazil is not a destination for sex tourism, it does not accept sexual exploitation and this attitude that the ministry and Embratur had was fair with the women and girls of Brazil.”
The controversial shirts also irked Brazil's government, which is campaigning aggressively to shed the country's reputation as a haven for sex tourism. Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff tweeted:
"Brazil is happy to receive tourists for the World Cup, but it is also ready to combat sex tourism."
Following the criticism, Adidas announced removed the T-shirts, adding in a statement that they were from a limited edition that was only available in the United States;
"Adidas always heeds the opinion of its consumers and partners and therefore announces that it will stop selling the products in question."
Maria do Rosário, welcomed the decision and hoped that the episode would;
"serve as an example of Brazil's respect for the world.”