‘Just tone deaf’—Nike’s marathon campaign backlash

Nike’s latest OOH campaign, which was displayed as part of the London marathon on Sunday (27 April), is facing backlash for being “inappropriate” following Yom HaShoah last week (23-24 April).

Nike is being criticised for using the phrase “never again” in its campaign, which includes the slogans: “never again... until next year” and “never again, see you next year”, referencing responses made by runners who take part in the 26.2-mile race. 

Critics claim the phrase “never again” is associated with the Holocaust remembrance day, which takes place annually on the 27th day of the Hebrew month of Nisan (which falls in April or May).

Writing on LinkedIn, Siena Dexter, co-founder and strategy director at Naked Ape, questioned if the campaign was “Just tone deaf? Or f*cking outrageous?”

She added: “For anyone who somehow isn’t aware, it was Holocaust memorial day last week. The saying ‘never again’ has been repeated on this day for the last 80 years.

“Nike chose to appropriate this exact commemorating statement for its ad campaign. On Holocaust memorial day ��.

“While I hope this is just a stupid accident, I suspect it isn’t.” 

However, Rebecca Holmes, creative strategy director at Cirkle PR agency, strongly disagreed with Dexter, stating she didn’t “believe there was anything intentional” in the campaign.

“As a Jewish woman living in the UK who was at the marathon yesterday, I also didn't clock this as an issue. It felt very relevant to marathon sentiment and discussion. I certainly only speak for myself, but I think this is off base,” she wrote.

Joe Goulcher, a creative director at Publicis-owned creative agency Boomerang, shared a similar view: “It's clumsy and insensitive but certainly not a targeted statement.”

Mike Bayfield, creative director at branding marketing agency, Up There, Everywhere, said: “Ooops! Looks like just very bad timing. No brand would be so crass and stupid enough to try to leverage that. Would they?”

However, Sajad Mahmood, co-founder at Manza, a Muslim-led marketing agency, is more sceptical of the campaign. He commented: “The level of sign-off and eyes on a campaign like this... Marathon runners do use the phrase but this is not a coincidence.”

Nike's 'Never again until next year' campaign was featured at the London Marathon on a billboard series, part of its 'Winning Isn't Comfortable' campaign first launched in September 2024. The 'Winning Isn't Comfortable' campaign has since been featured at various running events through billboards and digital screens, including the Chicago Marathon, Shanghai Marathon and the Nike After Dark Tour in Sydney.

A spokesperson for Nike said: "We did not mean any harm and apologise for any we caused. The London billboards were part of a broader campaign titled “Winning Isn’t Comfortable”, built on runners’ insights and designed to motivate runners to push past what they think is possible.

"A series of billboards with taglines such as “Remember why you signed up for this”, “This is bloody tough” and "Never again until next year” were placed along the route to inspire runners and the copy was based on common phrases used by runners.”

This article first appeared on Campaign sister title PRWeek.