"Never again until next year": Nike apologizes for shameful ad 

Nike has issued a public apology following widespread backlash over a billboard displayed during the London Marathon on April 27, which featured the phrase “Never Again. Until Next Year” in large black letters on a red background.

The advertisement, intended to inspire runners, was met with sharp criticism from Jewish leaders and activists who condemned its use of “Never Again,” a phrase deeply tied to Holocaust remembrance, as insensitive and trivializing, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency reported.

The temporary billboard was part of a campaign to motivate marathon participants. It aimed to capture the sentiment of runners who swear off long races after finishing, only to return the next year, Nike explained in a statement obtained by The Forward.

“We did not mean any harm and apologize for any we caused,” the company said, emphasizing that the phrase was drawn from common runner expressions. However, the ad’s wording and imagery provoked outrage, particularly among Jewish communities, who saw it as a careless misuse of a term associated with the pledge to prevent another Holocaust since the 1960s.

Jewish American investor and activist Bill Ackman took to X, slamming Nike’s choice as “stunning” in a “post-October 7th world,” referencing the 2023 Hamas attack on Israel that heightened global sensitivities around Jewish issues.

British columnist Jonathan Sacerdoti, writing in The Spectator, expressed shock at the oversight, questioning how no one at Nike flagged the ad’s potential to offend. “It would have taken just one set of discerning eyes, one solitary voice, one ‘sensitivity reader’ to raise a gentle objection,” Sacerdoti wrote, calling the result “insulting and profoundly distasteful.” He pondered whether the error stemmed from “ignorance, carelessness, or a chilling indifference.”

Pro-Israel activist and attorney Arsen Ostrovsky also criticized the ad, tweeting, “I don’t believe for a second there was any ill malice, but please understand the concern with using the words ‘Never Again,’ what they represent and why this was in poor taste.”

Nike is not the first to face controversy over the phrase. In 2018, Parkland, Florida, school shooting survivors adopted “#NeverAgain” for their gun control campaign, sparking debate over its appropriation.

The term has also appeared in protests against policies like Donald Trump’s first-term Muslim ban, in remembrance of Japanese internment during World War II, and in recalling the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882. In some cases, such as a 2023 Thessaloniki march marking the deportation of Greek Jews to Auschwitz, the phrase directly referenced Holocaust lessons to combat intolerance.

For Jewish communities, Nike’s ad was a painful misstep.

The company has not announced plans to alter its campaign further, but the apology seeks to address the hurt caused to those who saw the billboard as a mockery of a solemn pledge.