The St. Patrick’s Day Shoe, That Got Kicked Back

Yet another company joins the fray in trying to exploit a holiday (of sorts). Nike tried to defy convention by introducing a sneaker without any noticeable shade of green to commemorate St. Patrick’s Day.

The SB Dunk Low was nicknamed the ‘Black and Tan’ because of it’s noticeable beer-themed colors that are reminiscent of the popular drink combo of a pint of Guinness mixed with Harp pale ale.

Thought as a complimentary nod of good cheer, Nike instead received protest from the Irish community here and abroad.

The drink originally takes its name from the Black and Tans army unit employed by the Royal Irish Constabulary. Instead of fulfilling their mission to suppress revolution in Ireland, they became notoriously brutal by attacking the general Irish population during the 1920’s.

It’s hard to believe that a 30,000 strong, publicly held company like Nike, could fail to catch this faux pas. What was their marketing department thinking?? Just a few clicks would have revealed the same mistake ice cream-maker Ben & Jerry’s made in 2006.

Nike did finally realize their wrong-doing and publicly apologized today.

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