OT: Adidas Capitalizing On Kevin Ware's Injury
I'm only posting this because I think this is DISGUSTING if Adidas makes a DIME off these shirts they're selling.
Also, Michigan is Adidas and wear the 'Rise' shirts, so there is somewhat of a link.
Only now Adidas has replaced the 's' with the number 5 for Louisville. RI5E TO THE OCCASSION.
I'm hoping by posting this people will continue to post and there will be so much backlash that Adidas will donote ALL proceeds to a charity of Kevin Ware's choice. If they make a cent from these shirts it will be a travesty.
I love the idea of creating support for the L'ville fans, I even think the shirts are cool...but I don't think Adidas should get the money. That's it. Hopefully Cardinal Nation will buy them in full force and support Kevin. Hopefully Adidas isn't getting richer from it.
$25 per shirt!
I know if this was Michigan and the money went to Mott Children's Hospital, this board would be going NUTS to buy. Hell, I'd probably get two. Again, awesome concept if the money goes to the right place.
No.
(and if you don't like it, don't click, don't post, the topic title was very clear)
Adidas is a corporation. Corporations make profits for shareholders. Why is this shocking to anyone?
Yes.
But: shareholders also have the options of investing their money elsewhere. Perhaps some investors wouldn't be too happy to have Adidas capitalizing on a player's misfortune. Perhaps, after knowing of this information, they might like to invest elsewhere. Perhaps, some people might be less inclined to buy Adidas gear (please?) and subsequently encourage Adidas to either opt out of producing the shirt or encourage them to donate the proceeds.
I would imagine that any corporation donating the proceeds to a charity would make it well known. Or, maybe Adidas believes this is appropriate (hell, it might be depending on Ware's feelings). I don't think any of us would be too happy if Adidas made athletic tape for your arm and used Denard as an example.
~Herm
I seriously don't understand the outrage here. Ware, because of his injury, can't play in the Final Four, but his school is honoring him by putting his number on its shooting shirts, and fans can visually show their support by buying one. Yes, Adidas will make some money off the shirts, but Adidas also supplies all of Louisville's athletic gear - they've got to recoup their investment. How is this offensive?
Oh please. His teammates came up with the idea for the shirt to honor him. (Oh, those evil, greedy teammates...)
And he's not "nearly crippled." He broke his leg. He'll be back in action down the road.
Let me see if I understand your thought processes. Selling apparel with the number of Kevin Ware is a moral outrage, but selling apparel with the number of any other player on the team is OK? If you are opposed to the practice of schools selling replica jerseys and so forth in general, OK, I can buy that. But it seems like you're restricting all your outrage to this one particular case, a case in which his own teammates came up with the idea.
If I follow your logic, selling this shirt would be totally fine if Ware hadn't broken his leg. Why does his health matter? Players get injured all the time. I don't see how the fact that he's temporarily out of action matters in the "exploitation" debate.
Ware will get all his health bills paid for by Louisville, as well as his educational expenses. Part of the reason Louisville can afford to do that is the Adidas revenue they get.
While you may think the title is "very clear," it states your opinion as fact, and the shirt certainly isn't what one would expect to see after reading the headline.
Besides, if Ware was a Wolverine, and Michigan did a shirt dedicating the Final Four to him, it is quite possible that you would think it was "inspirational," instead of a money grab.
I don't think there's any doubt that if Adidas had made a shirt dedicated to Denard after he hurt his elbow, it would would be enormously popular here. Hell, it'd probably serve as a bunch of posters' avatars.
...shocked to find that gambling is going on in here.
what did you just say?
For the Casablanca reference!!!!
...shocked to find that gambling is going on in here.
what did you just say?
It is lame, probably a bit distasteful. Color me not shocked though that a big corporation (nothing against Big Corporation, sensitive Big Corp. people) like Adidas would try to make a few bucks off of a situations such as this one.
I also found this interesting because most of us know how the Fab 5 felt about Nike and Michigan capitalizing on their celebrity.
This is even more blatant.
And again, it's a GREAT marketing idea...if I'm Kevin, I love it. Hell, Louisville's insurance will pay for his recovery. The ONLY park that I would be upset about is who was getting the money. If it goes to charity, hell, I may buy one (after we beat L'ville for the Championship).
are they not profiting off of a specific player?
Is it any really different from us selling #3 basketball jerseys and #16 football jerseys?
A few years ago a U of Wyoming football player died in a winter-time car crash. The University sold a lot of t-shirt to commemorate him and help to bring the university community together. The general gist of the shirts were "always a cowboy".
In other words, get over it.
"The University sold a lot of t-shirt to commemorate him"
This is key. Is Adidas selling a lot of shirts to "commemorate" his injury or just to make a quick buck? This isn't the University bringing the campus together. This is a corporation who paid nicely to endorse Louisville. They are not going to pass up an opportunity to offset their costs. Granted, if it is shown that Adidas is producing the shirts out of the goodness of their hearts, all the power to them. But I doubt it.
~Herm
And you don't think who ever made the shirts for U of Wyoming got a cut a few years ago? Along the same lines, you don't think Louisville is getting a cut for this?
You have no idea what you are talking about.
Either your writing abilities or reading comprehension skills are extremely poor. I specifically noted that you stated that THE UNIVERSITY SOLD SHIRTS TO COMMEMORATE HIM. UNIVERSITY. UNIVERSITY. UNIVERSITY. University =/= Adidas.
If someone can point me to an article or anything that states Adidas is producing the shirts in conjunction with Louisville, I will absolutely stand corrected, but until that point, the fact remains that Adidas is producing a shirt which aims to profit off a player's injury. Until I see otherwise, I will assume the worst (hell, I'm not even offended by the shirt, I really don't care, but I do care that people are placing Adidas' commercial rights over common decency).
THOSE FACTS ARE VERY DIFFERENT THAN THE CURRENT SITUATION (and until we know otherwise, I would safely assume the shirts are produced with the goal of profit and profit alone).
I may not be a 70 year old man, but you sir, are an asshat. You are honestly the only person on this site who I honestly despise.
~Herm
so yeah the university is profiting.
You are not a 70 year old man?
Louisville's logo is right on the front of the shirt! How exactly could anyone do that without Louisville's blessing? As HighSociety notes, THE SCHOOL IS SELLING THEM!
I'm despised by a totally fake poster! AWESOME! I can't wait to care about what you think.
It isn't like the dude has cancer or is dying. Not too worried about this
Adidas will make money off the shirt, but Louisville will get royalties, too. That's how these apparel deals work.
I don't see it as a big deal. Fans can visually show their support for Ware in his recovery. If they weren't buying this particular shirt, they'd probably buy some other Louisville shirt anyway.
Adidas makes money, Louisville makes money...and the kid in the cast gets???
He gets a free college education and all his medical bills paid for. Don't act like that's nothing. This is a kid who was averaging 4.5 points per game. He's probably not going to make the NBA and may not even make a good overseas team. The education he's getting could be essential to his future.
I wasn't arguing that he should receive the money.
If you read my orginal post I said that he SHOULDN'T.
This isn't about "Kevin getting what's due."
He signed up to play D1 Basketball, it's "part of the job" per se.
Should Adidas get the money? No.
Should L'ville get the money? No.
Should Ware get the money? No. Again, insurance will pay for all of his medical needs (L'ville insurance) and he's still getting a free education as you said.
...but why not make some GOOD out of this situation and allow Kevin to donate all of the money to a charity of his choice?
People in need get assistance, people get to buy these shirts and support Kevin, Adidas gets their brand all over the place, L'ville gets their brand all over the place.
Just because I think GOOD over GREED is okay every now and again doesn't make me wrong in any capacity. It's tasteless and wrong that Adidas is captializing on the publicity from this kids injury. Period.
You do realize that it costs money to field college sports teams, right? And that it costs Adidas a lot of money to outfit all these different sports teams (most of which sell next to no merchandise), right? How should they be expected to recoup that investment?
Also, I think you're massively overestimating the amount of money Adidas/Louisville will actually make from this one particular shirt.
...but why not make some GOOD out of this situation and allow Kevin to donate all of the money to a charity of his choice?
Dude . . . he broke his leg. He didn't contract AIDs or Lou Gehrig's disease. He suffered a season-ending injury, which is unfortunate, but it happens in sports. I think you're overreacting - a lot.
People will want this shirt, someone's gonna supply it
Quite honestly, the adidas #5/Ware t-shirt doesn't much bother me. I am trying to figure out what the offense is. The people want to identify with their injured player and give him a shout out. I'm not buyin' one. But it's not my school. If I were going to sue adidas, it woud be for the needless exposure of more people to Zubaz zebra-stripes.
Whereas the Nike/Tiger/winning ad is truly a scary definition of "amoral."
jesus, they are acting like he was murdered on the court.
It was a broken bone. A really ugly bad looking one, but it was still treated the same as any other kid who broke their tibia and fibula. It happens all the time. You don't need to hold a candlelight vigil just because the sharp bone happened to poke through the skin.
Petino was just on Sportscenter and said that they were having a special Shoot around shirt made up with his number on it. This must be what he was talking about. Sounds like it was more of the teams idea, not the evil corporations.
PS. yeah i am getting tired of the coverage of this. Half of the first hour of sportscenter has been dedicated to this. He broke one bone in his leg. I broke both my Tibia and Fibula. Sportscenter did not cover it at all lol.
Was Ware's injury not a tib-fib fracture? I can't imagine it. I thought it had been confirmed as a tib-fib fracture.
How'd you get your tib-fib fracture, if you don't mind my asking?
I think the story has so much attraction, because so many people felt like they were eyewitnesses. No matter what, it was a freakish, unusual and for everyone who saw it, startling event.
What if Ware is OK with it? You seem to be assuming that he's pissed off about it. Given that the idea seems to have originated with his teammates (not Adidas), I don't think he is.
Also, it's not like the guy is at death's door. He had a similar injury to Fitzgerald Toussaint.
IIRC didn't we make Brock Mealer shirts (1%) following him leading the team on the field in 2010? Not a player, but same theory supporting an injured individual.
brock mealer is not an ncaa athlete
He's the brother of an athlete, though.