Almost 30,000 people have signed a petition for sportswear giant Nike to pull the Air Max 270 due to ‘offensive’ text bearing a resemblance to the word ‘Allah’ written in Arabic.

It started with one dissenting voice three weeks ago, and now a petition addressed to Nike and its CEO Mark Parker, has more  27,000 signatures.
When starting the movement, Saiqa Noreen argued that when viewed upside down, the brand logo on the shoe’s sole appeared to look like ‘Allah’ in Arabic script.
“It is outrageous and appalling of Nike to allow the name of God on a shoe,” Noreen wrote in the Change.org petition.

Nike responded by assuring potential Muslim customers that it “respects all religions” in response to a Change.org petition calling its Air Max 270 shoe “blasphemous.”
Roughly 30,000 people have signed the petition, which demands a recall due to “outrageous” printing they say too closely resembles the Arabic script for God.
“We urge Nike to recall this blasphemous and offensive shoe and all products with the design logo resembling the word Allah from worldwide sales immediately,” the petition states.
“I urge all Muslim’s and everyone who respects the freedom of religion to sign this petition.”
The petition does not state how, exactly, the company is infringing upon anyone’s right to practice a particular religion.
“Nike respects all religions and we take concerns of this nature seriously,” the spokesperson told “Today”. “The AIR MAX logo was designed to be a stylised representation of Nike’s AIR MAX trademark. It is intended to reflect the AIR MAX brand only. Any other perceived meaning or representation is unintentional.”
The Hill noted that Amazon, facing similar complaints, removed over a dozen products that referenced the prophet Muhammad.

source: washingtontimes.com