Adidas faces boycott for featuring IDF veteran in campaign

Anti-Israel activists accused Adidas of “ignoring amputee children in Gaza,” after the company featured veteran Shalev Biton in an advertisement.

By World Israel News Staff

Sportswear giant Adidas is facing boycott calls after featuring an IDF veteran who lost a leg in a new campaign promoting the sale of individual shoes.

Adidas selected Shalev Biton, an IDF veteran whose leg was amputated after an anti-tank missile attack near the Gaza border in 2021, as the face of its Single Shoe service in Israel. The initiative allows customers to purchase just one shoe rather than a pair, making it particularly useful for amputees and others who require only a single shoe.

However, Adidas’ decision to feature Biton in the campaign has drawn the ire of anti-Israel activists, who have called for a boycott of the German sportswear company over its inclusion of a former Israeli soldier.

A social media post that went viral after being liked and shared tens of thousands of times depicted Biton jogging with his amputated left foot replaced by a prosthesis alongside a Gazan girl lying in a hospital bed. Users claimed that the girl had been wounded in an Israeli airstrike.

The post’s caption accused Adidas of “ignoring amputee children in Gaza” in favor of Israeli army soldiers.

Adidas defended the Single Shoe initiative, emphasizing that the service was not created specifically for the Israeli market or for IDF veterans.

“Adidas launched Single Shoe in Europe in January 2026, a service that allows consumers and athletes who need only one shoe to purchase a single shoe instead of a pair,” the German company said in a media statement addressing the boycott campaign. “The service was developed in cooperation with communities and professional organizations, including the British Paralympic Association, as part of Adidas’ commitment to expanding accessibility to sport.”

Without addressing the boycott by name, the company added that they “are aware that interpretations in recent days have misrepresented the purpose of the service.” Adidas stressed that it “is important to clarify that this is a global initiative intended to expand choice and accessibility for athletes and consumers around the world.”