What were Nike thinking, marketing Black and Tan sneakers for St. Patrick's Day? Irish Americans surely deserved better than that
By: Niall O'Dowd | Published Monday, March 12, 2012, 10:45 AM | Updated Monday, March 12, 2012, 10:45 AM
What were Nike thinking?
They have a $3 billion dollar budget worldwide for marketing and the best they can come up with for the Irish this
St. Patrick's Day is the 'Black and Tan' sneaker.
Did no one at this giant company just check on Google exactly what most Irish relate the term Black and Tan to?
It was the equivalent of Al-Qaeda for a generation of Irish during the War of Independence. A bunch of merciless thugs and scum, many from British prisons, released on the Irish to kill and shoot as many as possible and terrorize them into subjection.
Surely not a fitting name for a
St.Patrick's Day-themed pair of sneakers?
Nike made the elementary mistake of linking their product to a drink called Black and Tan on sale in some bars. But the drink has nothing like the world wide reputation or impact that the original term does.
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It is a marketing strategy straight out of the "Nova," the car marketed in Hispanic countries which means "no go," and the Ford Probe, which reminded every woman of a gynecological inspection.
It is up there with Umbro marketing Zyklon runners a few years back in Israel -- Zyklon B was the form of gas that killed millions of innocent Jews in the Holocaust.
The sheen has come off Nike in recent years with lots of issues around child labor in their Far East sweat shops.
This latest gaffe will certainly not help with Irish Americans and neither should it.
Nike should just do it -- get rid of these offensive sneakers.
39 Comments
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Switch to the desktop site to post a comment.Shmrck5S | Mar 13, 2012, 04:27 PM EDT
Completely agree with Dr Trelawney about Smithwick's and Harp. I like a "light" brew (Guinness) now and again but only when I can't get a nice draft from a barrel of light sweet crude oil or possibly a pint of tar. If it's not bitter and chewy, its' just not a proper brew. (Sarcasm-for those who didn't recognize)
Shmrck5S | Mar 13, 2012, 10:20 AM EDT
What WERE Nike thinking? I were wondering the same thing. How pretentious.
patto69 | Mar 13, 2012, 10:15 AM EDT
Much ado about nothing.
RedBranch | Mar 13, 2012, 10:13 AM EDT
When in Dundalk I drink nothing else.
DrTrelawney | Mar 13, 2012, 10:08 AM EDT
They do still make McArdles. I always felt it was only marginally nicer than the watery Smithwicks. There are, however, now quite a few decent ales brewed by Irish micro-breweries. If you are in Dublin seek out Against the Grain on Camden Street. They offer a superb selection of specialist Irish beers.
GeorgeDillon | Mar 13, 2012, 05:24 AM EDT
RedBranch: Do they still make McArdles? I don't think I've seen it in any of my recent visits to Ireland. It was/is a very good beer.
DanOLoingsigh | Mar 12, 2012, 06:37 PM EDT
Dr T...Thanks...RedB...It took a while to get the Smithwick's ref...
DrTrelawney | Mar 12, 2012, 02:40 PM EDT
Two thumbs up, Dan. A good joke. I wouldn't put it past the more sensitive contributors to this site to take it seriously, though.
RedBranch | Mar 12, 2012, 01:50 PM EDT
TV researcher doing a study on Jews in Louth; walks up to a native and asks 'Is it true the people of Dundalk are anti Semitic?' The local thinks and then sagely replies'No, we just prefer the taste of McCardles.'
DanOLoingsigh | Mar 12, 2012, 12:05 PM EDT
Dr T, Your reference to Pale Ale, thoughtlessly named after the occupied part of Leinster, is an unwelcome reminder of centuries of hurt inflicted by Saxon Kings and Queens and their Janissaries - Say NO to Nike, Say NO to Whitbread........
DrTrelawney | Mar 12, 2012, 11:35 AM EDT
On a less inflammatory topic, I note that the press release from Nike claims that Harp -- the world's most horrid lager -- is a "pale ale". If I were a pale ale I'd be greatly offended.
modalaigh | Mar 12, 2012, 10:35 AM EDT
Personally, I'd be more concerned about all this if the sneakers shot at you after you put them on.
modalaigh | Mar 12, 2012, 10:33 AM EDT
Personally, I'd be a lot more concerned with this issue if the sneakers shot at you after you put them on.
SeamusMor | Mar 12, 2012, 10:01 AM EDT
They're just thinking "out of the box." Next comes Nazi SS jack boots, Khmer Rouge sandals, and Taliban shoe bombs.
jamieLM | Mar 12, 2012, 09:24 AM EDT
Don't like them, don't buy them. I've worn black slacks and a tan blouse. I wasn't trying to make a political statement against anyone. Now we have to worry about offending someone by wearing the wrong color combinations? This is nonsense stuff.
IrelandNorth | Mar 12, 2012, 07:26 AM EDT
Black 'n' Tan's uniforms were actually bottle green RIC police uniforms and khaki British army regular uniform - slacks or tunics - vice versa. So, unless these sneakers are green 'n' khaki, I wouldn't get to exercised about it. Even if they coincidentally commemorate a satorially challenged bunch of WWI demobbed desperados of British army ex-servicemen unleashed on Ireland as revenge for 1916.
RedBranch | Mar 12, 2012, 07:09 AM EDT
Yawn! Keep up with the coat-dragging Niall, shame you don't see something offensive in the Notre Dame 'Fighting Irish' mascot/logo. A diminutive ape like caricatur in pugnatious pose and might those be tan shoes he's wearing....
Towngate | Mar 12, 2012, 05:06 AM EDT
Nill, a chara: Shame you didn't have the gumption to accept my comment on this small-minded and inflammatory Post. I will take satisfaction from the drubbing you have taken from the other Commenters.
Ballyphehane1 | Mar 12, 2012, 12:21 AM EDT
I think I'm more offended by the black and tan drink. What a waste of a good pint of Murphys/Guinness to be sullied with an ale... (just joking by the way, although the idea of it kind of turns my stomach - each to their own I suppose)... I agree with some of the other people here though - Irish Central seems to be trying to incite outrage these days. I don't understand why. It's starting to get boring.
Mccusk | Mar 11, 2012, 11:42 PM EDT
Niall, we can do without getting too worked up about this, I couldn't care les about it. It's just a shoe. Plenty of Irish pub sell black and tan, as in it written on the menu, but we only feign outrage when it's a multinational?
seamus60 | Mar 11, 2012, 10:29 PM EDT
Could have been much worse. Just imagine they had launched them from Croagh Park the day of the queens visit. As if that wasn`t offensive enough.
kimmie0 | Mar 11, 2012, 10:24 PM EDT
I still miss Ben & Jerry's Black&Tan Ice cream.... OMG it was good... stout flavored ice cream swirled with a vanilla twist... it was awesome.... and pulled off the market because of some being offended of the association with the olden days... :-(
barneyjo | Mar 11, 2012, 07:06 PM EDT
Mr O'Dowd, is it the case that even in the land of the free that "WASPS" still have a very potent sting? :)
seanomelb | Mar 11, 2012, 06:17 PM EDT
byethebay and citizen69 are common bedfellows in their insensitivity to anything Irish.They are the archetypal defenders of the west Brit mindset
merefalow | Mar 11, 2012, 03:57 PM EDT
what a dickhead researcher,must be university educated,only good for walking through dogs...
mandrake | Mar 11, 2012, 03:18 PM EDT
If they release these sneakers in Ireland they will lose a lot of customers and probably a few stores.
citizen69 | Mar 11, 2012, 02:01 PM EDT
@Bythebay: the comment below attributed to me which asked you about definition wasn't actually written or posted by me! Another gremlin (or should that be leprechaun)in machine of IrishCentral!
bob40wil | Mar 11, 2012, 01:55 PM EDT
They are shoes, no more, no less. I'm doubtful they were brought out just to tick off the Irish.
johhnyb | Mar 11, 2012, 12:43 PM EDT
By the way, bigguy 1999, the Queen mother died in 2002, so you're probably too late to push her off a roof!
Jimsales74 | Mar 11, 2012, 12:42 PM EDT
First I hate Nike philosophically, I don't buy em, and never will. Nevertheless, While I've heard of the other Black and Tan, nobody attacks Syracuse University because they are the Orange men. We are Yanks--as you like to let us know constantly--and while we speak the same language, we speak different bits of it. Here, a Black and Tan is, in my opinion, simply a drink for people who can't make up their minds. Finally, Here, we have Blacks, and Jews, and Latinos who are constantly busy looking for slights whether they exist or not, I should like to think that we are above that sort of nonsense.
johhnyb | Mar 11, 2012, 12:39 PM EDT
Hi. Good job we've got the Yanks to be offended on our behalf because I haven't heard of anyone in Ireland being offended. Thanks fellas
bigguy1999 | Mar 11, 2012, 12:35 PM EDT
from my irish american point of view i am offended by these shoes let nike market them in merry old england buy the queen mum a pair just before you push her of the roof of buckingham long live the I.R.A GET THE HELL OUT OF ULSTER.BLACK AND TAN IS NOT A BEER ITS A DRINK MADE BY COMBINING 2 DIFFERENT BEERS ,ALSO ITS NOT A BELFAST BOMBER ITS CALLED AN IRISH CAR BOMB I MANAGED A NITE CLUB IN FLORIDA I PERSONALLY TOOK OFFENCE TO THIS AND WOULD NOT ALLOW THE SHOT TO BE MADE IN MY CLUB,PERIOD I WAS OFFENDED BY IT AND ANY ONE WITH A PROBLEM WITH THAT WAS REMINDED WHERE THE DOOR WAS
citizen69 | Mar 11, 2012, 12:06 PM EDT
It seems this website is constantly looking for things to be offended about. To say that the naming of these shoes would be the equivalent to Americans as calling them 'Al Qaeda' is rubbish for two reasons. 1. These sneakers are quite clearly inspired & named after a drink which is a half pint of ale topped with a half pint of stout (hence the graphic of a pint glass on the inner sole). The name of this drink came about at least thirty years before the Black & Tan paramilitary unit. 2. There is no-one alive today who suffered at the hands of the B&T's while many thousands of people in America are still living with effects of the terror attacks of 9/11. Although i could understand the offence taken if these training shoes were linked in any way to the B&T's in Ireland , I wonder if you would be as quick to be offended if the name of these training shoes happened to be called IRA's? A group that murdered and destroyed more innocent lives in Ireland than the Black & Tans did.
citizen69 | Mar 11, 2012, 11:47 AM EDT
bythebay which definition do you think most irish people think of?
dibble2008 | Mar 11, 2012, 11:40 AM EDT
Its insensitive and an Insult to irish people simple as that.
seagreen | Mar 11, 2012, 11:29 AM EDT
Black and Tan is something that some marketer heard vaguely about in reference to Ireland. They know nothing more, as in so many other stages of Irish, or American history for that matter. There was probably no malice, just ignorance ! It is like someone saying "get go" instead of "git go" which was/is a daily saying from the US Army for 60 years. As for NIKE. Laying off 3000 people in North America, and moving to China tells me enough about them. Its time for the Irish to get rid of the persecution complex.
Sparklet | Mar 11, 2012, 10:54 AM EDT
I basically agree with this - but would question the hypocrisy of anyone who objects, but saw no problem with the cocktail that was called Bekfast Bomber or something like that.
Searlit | Mar 11, 2012, 10:18 AM EDT
I think there d*mn ugly!
DANNYD1 | Mar 11, 2012, 10:11 AM EDT
I think Nike has it's head up you know where ---and it's dark in there.