Sports apparel giant Nike removed a promotional video on social media a few days after its publication. The deletion is suspected to be linked to the inclusion of the word “Kurdistan” in the advertisement
- “I like to wear my gold… like a Kurdish mum… London to Kurdistan,” went the jingle published by Nike on Friday featuring the song, “Gold,” by artists Conducta and Biji. Access to the video has been limited on YouTube by Nike but a version is still available on the company’s website without the music
“Why does EVERYTHING apolitical suddenly become political when a Kurd is involved? @Nike Shame on you,” said X user Samira Ghaderi.
A music video for the song was published on YouTube last year by the artists who were blending Kurdish and British cultures.
The promotion was advertising Nike’s new “Air” shoes. French soccer player Mbappe is also featured in the video.
It is not clear why Nike chose to take down the video but countries like Turkey have been blamed for censoring the use of Kurdistan by companies.
Numerous people have been jailed in Turkey on terror charges for using the word Kurdistan.
Rudaw English reached out to Nike and both singers for comment.
https://www.rudaw.net/english/world/08072024
