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Why Did Adidas Wait So Long to Drop Kanye West?

Three reasons companies wait too long to make obvious decisions

Gleb Tsipursky
Wed, 11/30/2022 - 12:03
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Why do companies bury their heads in the sand instead of facing dangerous facts, whether about quality problems or other issues? It happens more often than you might think—most recently with Adidas. It usually boils down to companies falling for three cognitive biases.

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“Adidas does not tolerate antisemitism and any other sort of hate speech... the company has taken the decision to terminate the partnership with Ye immediately,” the company stated in its Oct. 25, 2022, news release. That statement conveys a principled and admirable stance against the antisemitism shown by the rapper formerly known as Kanye West after his antisemitic tweet on Oct. 10 that he would go “death con 3 on JEWISH PEOPLE.”

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Comments

Submitted by Andrey Solin on Wed, 11/30/2022 - 03:24

The ostrich effect

Dear Dr. Tsipursky,

Thank you for your article. Here is my take on the subject matter.

If you are already known for being a trouble-maker and someone who makes controversial statements, it may take people longer to discern ‘the usual’ provocative behavior from an abusive insult. Far from endorsing such a 'tolerant' attitude, I here try to rationalize this lag in response. Something similar happened to actress Kirsten Dunst as she was sitting next to director Lars von Trier at the Cannes Film Festival ceremony, while he was making unacceptable jokes about Hitler. Reuters speculated that Dunst was “cringing as he [von Trier] self-destructed” (Reuters, 2011). It is most sad that for the penny to drop in, it takes a public outrage or a condemnation from colleagues or peers. Dior was swift to cut ties with John Galliano who had made anti-Semitic and racist comments, but only after Natalie Portman had released her statement.

Thank you,

Andrey

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