Recalls 38,000 Pairs That Offend Muslims

Nike Inc on Tuesday apologised to the Islamic community as it recalled more than 38,000 pairs of athletic shoes with a logo that offended Moslems because it resembled the Arabic word for "Allah," or God. Under a pact between Nike and the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), Nike apologised for any unintentional offence it caused with the flame-shaped logo, which is distinct from Nike's trademark "swoosh" logo. "There is in excess of 38,000 pairs in our distribution centres worldwide that we'll be recalling and we'll obliterate the logo before reintroducing it ... though our retail chain," company spokesman Roy Agostino said. "Through a long process of discussions we have resolved our differences of opinion with the Moslem community," Nike said in a statement.

 

"While we never intended to offend -- we did. We have done everything possible to communicate our sincerest apologies and to address issues related to the distribution of any products offensive to the community," it said.

As part of the agreement, CAIR agreed to inform the Moslem community about the recall and the settlement.

"Nike showed a willingness to engage in good-faith negotiations and to learn from its interaction with the Moslem community," CAIR Executive Director Nihad Awad said in a statement.

The recall affects a summer range of outdoor basketball products called Air Bakin, Air BBQ, Air Grill and Air Melt, which sell for $70 to $120 per pair.

Nike, based in Beaverton, Ore., has sold under a million pairs globally, it said.

Malik Mujahid, a Chicago member of the Islamic Circle of North America, said, "We don't consider it a victory, more a realisation of a mistake. Nike and other organisations have not been very considerate in the past." The Islamic Circle of North America provides locations for Friday prayers.

In Detroit, Imam Hassan Quazwini of the Islamic Centre of America, a mosque, said he was glad Nike realised how important the issue is to the 6 million Moslems in the United States and 1.5 billion in the world.

He said the fact the symbol was put on shoes -- something that gets walked on -- was particularly offensive to Moslems.

Agostino said the potential for trouble was suggested by one of the company's Moslem distributors in September. "We immediately effected a design change to avoid confusion," he said.

However, Agostino said, in March the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) alerted the company of concerns among members of the Islamic community.

Agostino said Nike tried to mitigate the impact on the Moslem community. "We diverted shipments away from Islamic states and completely discontinued the product range so no future product would be made as of March," he said.

Nike said it also made organisational changes in March to prevent a recurrence and to start testing Islamic sensibilities regarding its products.

"We wanted to bridge the gap and to take measures to allay concerns," he said, adding, "we were able to reach that understating with CARE on the measures.

He said Nike would not be taking any charge to earnings related to the recall.

In another controversial, but unrelated matter, UN Ambassador Andrew Young released a report Tuesday on working conditions at Nike factories in Asia, following criticism of wages and living standards for Nike workers there.

In his 74-page report on Nike's labour practices aboard, Young said the 12 factories he visited in China, Vietnam and Indonesia "were clean, organised, adequately ventilated and well lit."

The report was immediately criticised by human rights groups, which said Nike workers in Indonesia stage wildcat strikes constantly because they are paid $2.46 per day in a country where the basic subsistence wage is $4 per day.

"Nike has spent millions of dollars buying off major athletes. Now it's brought off Andrew Young," said Medea Benjamin, president of the of the San Francisco-based human rights group Global Exchange.

"We have studied the report and we will take action to improve in areas where he suggests we need to improve," Nike founder and Chief Executive Officer Philip Knight and President Thomas Clarke said in a statement released Tuesday afternoon.

"For although his overall assessment is that we are doing a 'good job,' good is not the standard Nike seeks in anything we do," said the statement, which listed various actions, such as levying monetary penalties and corrective actions for factories which violate its principles.

Nike stock rose $1 to $59.875 in consolidated trading on the New York Stock Exchange