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Adidas Cricket lands in hot water over alleged racist caricature of Dwayne Bravo

Dwayne Bravo of the Gujarat Lions

Sports manufacturing company Adidas found itself at the wrong end of some public outrage after their tribute to West Indies all-rounder Dwayne Bravo was regarded as racist. Such was the degree of outrage that Adidas had to delete the picture they had uploaded on their Twitter account and issue an apology.

Bravo came up with the historic feat of being the first cricketer to capture 300 Twenty20 wickets during Gujarat Lions’ IPL match against Kings XI Punjab on Monday, a match where he had figures of 4/22.

Adidas came up with the caricature of Bravo to celebrate this feat, but the way this homage was paid did not sit well with more strait-laced fans. The caricature was perceived to be racist, because of the size of lips and teeth of the representation.

Nigel posted: "@adidascricket What's the deal with this ugly caricature of @DJBravo47? It's a stereotype of a long past era. Tasteless, tactless and crude."

Another Twitter user, Rhoda said, "@adidascricket It is offensive and racist. Take it down."

Chica added, "@adidascricket that caricature of Dwayne Bravo is very disrespectful. That's how you see us all w/big teeth & nose? Disrespectful."

A comment from Tenille said, "I was notified of that caricature last evening. I cannot even begin to express my level of disappointment in the @adidascricket team."

However, not all feedback has been in this vein. An user from Trinidad posted that it was not offensive at all, and that it was clearly only meant to celebrate Bravo’s achievement. 

Also, those being offended by the caricature on the grounds of the size of the teeth and picture seem to have forgotten the dictionary definition of the word caricature, which goes, ‘a picture, description, or imitation of a person in which certain striking characteristics are exaggerated in order to create a comic or grotesque effect’.

However, Adidas reacted to the backlash by deleting the image and issuing these tweets:

Bravo has not issued any statement regarding this issue as of yet, but has sent this tweet out:

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