Adidas’ Ultimate Cultural Appropriation Disaster: How Oaxaca Sandals Became the Corporate Crime of the Year
Hello everyone. Let’s talk about yet another episode of “Mega-Corporation Does Something Tone-Deaf and Then Pretends They’re Shocked by the Backlash,” starring Adidas, an American designer, and the beautiful Mexican state of Oaxaca-now dragged into the limelight because someone decided that naming a pair of sandals after it was a stroke of creative genius. Spoiler: it wasn’t.
The Mea Culpa That Nobody Asked For, Yet Everyone Expected
Willy Chavarria, an American designer of Mexican heritage, decided to do the corporate PR equivalent of using a medkit in the middle of a boss fight-slap on a rushed apology and hope the critics stop shooting. On Saturday, he publicly admitted that the sandals he designed “induly” used the name of Oaxaca without any real collaboration or partnership with the locals. Translation into normal human speech: “I took inspiration, slapped a name on it, cashed the paycheck, and then remembered people might notice.”
Cultural Appropriation Boss Fight – Level: Government Raid
The backlash didn’t come from a lone angry Twitter account. No, this got the full government-aggro treatment. Mexican federal cultural officials, the president herself, and the governor of Oaxaca all geared up for a coordinated strike, complete with the possibility of lawsuits. The village of Villa Hidalgo Yalalag, which has been crafting similar sandals for generations, claims this was outright plagiarism. And here’s where the irritation meter goes off the charts: this isn’t just “ooh pretty patterns, let’s use them.” This is collective intellectual property – a concept that fashion brands apparently struggle to comprehend in the same way some players refuse to read the tutorial before diving headfirst into a multiplayer match.
This Isn’t Adidas’ First Rodeo – Mexico Has Been Here Before
Mexico has had to equip its legal sniper rifle more than once in this arena, targeting repeat offenders like Shein, Zara, and Carolina Herrera for exploiting indigenous designs without permission. You’d think global brands would have learned by now that indigenous art is not some royalty-free asset pack they can download and reskin for profit. But apparently, internal memos at these companies read like tinfoil-hat conspiracy manuals: “Sure, they’re watching us… but they’ll never catch on to this one.”
The PR Speedrun and Its Inevitability
Here’s the formula: Brand lifts cultural element ➡ outrage explodes faster than a speedrunner breaking a world record ➡ designer issues regret-stuffed statement ➡ corporation agrees to ‘meet with authorities’ ➡ lawyers lurk in the shadows sharpening their knives ➡ rinse, repeat next quarter. It’s as predictable as loot crates containing duplicate skins you never wanted in the first place.
The Doctor’s Diagnosis
If I put on my white coat for a moment, I’d say this brand suffers from chronic PR myopia, with acute short-term memory loss regarding ethics. The treatment plan? Radical empathy therapy combined with cultural collaboration vitamins – administered before launching products instead of after the lawsuits start appearing. Prevention, dear Adidas, is far cheaper than aggressive litigation antibiotics.
Conclusion – Was This a Misstep or a Stomp?
Ultimately, this was a bad play. This wasn’t some minor slip on a banana peel; this was a calculated sprint through a field of cultural landmines with sandals that might’ve been fine if only someone had asked permission before slapping the Oaxaca label on. The apology feels inevitable, but the sincerity? That remains a mystery. I’d rate it somewhere between “corporate damage control” and “NPC dialogue loop.”
And that, ladies and gentlemen, is entirely my opinion.
Article source: Mexique : Mea culpa d’un designer de chaussures pour Adidas pour une appropriation culturelle, https://www.20minutes.fr/monde/4167369-20250810-mexique-mea-culpa-designer-chaussures-adidas-appropriation-culturelle
