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SALT LAKE CITY — Nike Inc. apologized Thursday for a potentially offensive nickname that had been given to a new style of shoes to celebrate St. Patrick's Day.
The shoes, called the "Nike SB Dunk Low Quickstrike," were unofficially named and marketed as the "SB Black and Tan Quickstrike" by the company. The name was meant to call to mind a drink — popularized in the U.S. — made by combining a dark beer, such as Guinness, with a light lager.
Instead, it incited outrage among those familiar with its historical connotations.
The Black and Tans were an ad hoc British paramilitary unit employed 1920- 1921 to suppress an Irish revolution against British rule that would eventually lead to independence for Northern Ireland. The group went further than suppressing revolutionaries, though, and became known for its members' brutal attacks on Irish civilians.
"It would be the American equivalent of calling a sneaker 'the al-Qaeda,'" stated Ciaran Staunton, President of the Irish Lobby for Immigration Reform, to Irish-American news website IrishCentral.com.
It would be the American equivalent of calling a sneaker 'the al- Qaeda.'
–Ciaran Staunton
It is a well-known history in Ireland today; "Black and tan" or "tan" are still used pejoratively in Ireland as a term for Britons.
Nike is no longer advertising the footwear with the offensive nickname, but some independent retailers continued its use as of Friday morning. And following a short period of silence, Nike has apologized for the error.
"This month Nike is scheduled to release a quick strike version of the Nike SB Dunk Low that has been unofficially named by some using a phrase that can be viewed as inappropriate and insensitive," Megan Saalfeld, a Nike spokeswoman, said in a statement to ksl.com. "We apologize. No offense was intended."
It is not the first time a U.S. company has had a slip-up with the nickname. In 2006, Ben & Jerry's apologized for a cream stout and chocolate flavored ice cream called "Black & Tan" that was sold only in the United States.
