Adidas' official Instagram page rang in Valentine's Day with the photo above — a sportier take on those romantic two-pairs-of-converse-pointing-at-each-otherphotos that you most definitely had on your MySpace in 2006. The accompanying caption reads, "The love you take is equal to the love you make," echoing the "You get out what you put in" sentiment that's usually applied to workouts. It all seemed harmless enough, until some users took major issue with the fact that the couple appears to be two women. Sigh, this is why we can't have nice things, even on Valentine's Day.
Shown below, Twitter user @laurmanisclexa captured some of the negative comments on the photo. The outraged Instagram users considered the post out of step with V-Day's meaning. It's a day that, as one user put it, is "FOR BOY AND GIRL, WHEN THEY ARE COUPLE."
Also pictured: Adidas' take on the negativity. The fitness-as-lifestyle brand's account responded to the nasty comments with a stern yet playful (thanks to the kiss mark emoji) rebuttal: "No, this day is for LOVE. Happy Valentine's Day." Another commenter's threat to reassign their sneaker loyalty to Nike was met with the emoji equivalent of "Bye, Felicia"— waving hand sign emoji plus kiss mark emoji.
I'm so proud i choose the right brand pic.twitter.com/3rmJrZTUeT
— bright not light (@laurmanisclexa) February 15, 2016
This zero-tolerance policy with homophobia echoes a recent decision by Adidas to add a clause around sexual identity to its sponsorship contracts — essentially, no athlete who is signed with the company can be fired if they publicly identify as LGBT. In other words, the brand is working in large and small ways to show its support for love of all kinds, and we couldn't agree more.
This month, we're sharing steamy personal stories, exploring ways to have even better sex, and wading through the complicated dynamics that follow us into the bedroom. Here's to a very happy February. Check out more right here.
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