Racist Advertisements from K-swiss sneaker brand April 2, 2008
okay so i was reading through the April 2008 issue of Teen Vogue and i stumbled upon this ad. It shows a caucasion blonde woman with blue eyes and in bold white letters it says KEEP IT PURE. Now for some reason this ad didnt sit well with me because that is something that hitler or the Nazis would say or even the KKK would say. Keep the race pure. Well i looked up some stuff on the net and i also found out that Kswiss also refuses to use black models. As an african american teen this really offends me! Keep it pure. Now some people may argue that this statement was taken out of context but i deeply disagree. This in my opinion is called subtle racism. A hint of an idea about what they mean but in some ways it makes you wonder well maybe its not racist. So from this day on i am boycotting Kswiss. They refuse to use black models for their ads and TV commercials, but yet they want to sell to the black community or the minority community. Well this is all i have to say but like i mentioned before i found this article in TEEN VOGUE. Which is a mag where hardly any african americans are found throughout the pages of the mag or on the cover. just keep that in mind next time you pick up a magazine or shop for sneakers what type of group you are supporting with that purchase.
One of K-Swiss’ main spokespersons is Sebastian Foucan, the founder of free running. He is black. Your information appears to be incorrect.
actually i am not incorrect. The editor in chief in vogue magazine is a black man too and vogue never puts black models on their cover, with the exception of 3 people. So just because your black doesnt mean u r going to suport the right things
REALLY? Vogue NEVER puts black people on their cover.. oh with the exception of 3 people? get over it you really went through the history of vogue just to see if there was a black person on any of the covers?- highly doubt it
I am sick and tired of people overreacting about things that are not true. Expecially this racism crap. I AM BLACK and deal with listening to people ramble on all the time about how we are treated unfairly. This isnt the 50’s!! No crap you are going to see more white people here in America, we didn’t come here until about 500 years after them!!!! So please get over yourselves and stop making our race look like a bunch of complaining idiots.
oh well, its the year 2008 and black people and minorities in general arent being treated fairly or getting the same oppurtunities pick up a new paper, watch the news, read a history book. and until the day we get treated right ima keep writing about it.
DEAL WITH IT!
Yes, you said “with the exception of 3 people.” Therefore they HAVE used black models?!
Lol!
Duuhh!!
x
think about it though 3 black models out of thousands of white models…. that hit the covers over the many years vogue has been in stores….it doesnt compare.
I may not have been clear with my earlier response. Sebastien Foucan (my apology for my previous misspelling) is an athlete featured prominently in K-Swiss advertisements. (See http://www.kswiss.com/content/free_running/). He is featured in their new free running commercial, which can be previewed at http://www.kswiss.com/content/free_running/. You will notice that this commercial ends with the phrase “Keep It Pure.” The fact that the phrase is being used in connection with an athlete who is not white would indicate that the phrase is being used to refer to keeping something pure rather than race. Is it possible that the reference is to keeping one’s athleticism pure?
With one of their two television commercials in their current advertising campaign featuring a black man, K-Swiss has shown a significant commitment to recognizing and celebrating black athletes.
To lump K-Swiss in with the heinous organizations mentioned above is patently unfair to K-Swiss. There are many organizations that deserve our disdain for policies that exclude blacks or people of color, but K-Swiss does not appear to be one of them.
Tom i understand what u are trying to say but based on this ad, there is a caucasion blonde hair blue eye woman with the words “keep it pure”. First off whats the purpose of the ad saying “keep it pure”. There is such a thing as subtle racism, Something that isnt as blatent but obviously meaning somenthing. Maybe ur not getting what i am trying to say. The ad in my opinion is racist.
Anna Kournikova is a well known tennis player, and is the woman featured in the advertisement. You will notice on the K-Swiss website that the caption for her television commercial reads “Pure Sport”.
I am simply suggesting that you may be reading too much into the advert in Teen Vogue.
Are the ads featuring Mr. Foucan and ending with the “Keep It Pure” theme racist, or the ad with Mr. Foucan featured at http://www.kswiss.com/content/advertising/#/ads/0/ with “Keep It Pure” across the front of the ad in the form of a watermark racist?
Each instance of the use of “Keep It Pure” seems to strengthen the argument that pure sport is the campaign’s theme.
well i still stand by my opinion and i respect yours
There’s a huge billboard on my way to work with a black man leaping, a big photo of his face, and the words “Keep it pure” along with the K-Swiss logo. Clearly, 1) K-Swiss DOES use black models, and 2) the motto clearly refers to sport, given the context.
Yes, racism exists. But not in this ad campaign. You’re going to have to use another example to support your argument.
And since when is Anna Wintour a black man?!! You don’t make a very credible argument when you make these kinds of statements.
Please do some research before you accuse people of something so ridiculous…
I was the model in the new kswiss advert with Sebastian Foucan. I can understand why you’d think that, but for starters, like someone else said, they use Foucan in another ad where it says ‘keep it pure’ and secondly, when I was working on the set, I got to meet some people from kswiss. One of the guys called Darrell is one of the most senior members of the whole brand, and he’s black. There were also several other black and ethnic minorities working there.
I understand what you’re saying but seriously… don’t you think you’re over analyzing?