I'm a sneaker connoisseur, and kind of a Puma devotee. I haven't worn Adidas in years, but was on vacation in Amsterdam and was so entranced by the window displays in the Adidas Original Store that I went in to take a look.
After browsing for a few minutes, I took a photo of a cool shoe that I planned to post on Facebook. An angry salesperson came over and told me that photos were not allowed. I said, OK, and deleted the photo. Then I asked why photos were not allowed.
Angry Salesperson told me that no photos of merchandise are allowed in any Adidas stores and that it was because they didn't want people stealing their designs. I said, OK. She said, "I have that same phone as you; show me that you deleted the photo." I was like, OK, here. She then demanded to see my iPhone camera roll.
Several thoughts about this experience:
1. After my interaction with Angry Salesperson, I will not be wearing Adidas products in the future.
2. I have nearly 1000 Facebook friends, many of whom like sneakers. So Adidas missed out on an opportunity to have someone post and praise their shoe. I think it's very likely that at least one of them would have gone out and bought sneakers with their name stitched into the sides (which was the shoe I had photographed).
3. Really, no photographs of stuff in Adidas Originals stores? Anywhere in the world? I could understand if I had, like, infiltrated their secret design lab in Bavaria and taken photos of sneaker prototypes scheduled for sale in 2015. But this was just a regular Adidas Originals store; I've been in several this year in the United States and in Germany.
Anyway, so, #adidasFAIL. I'm going to go put on my Pumas now... read more