German sportswear giant adidas has been left red-faced after an embarrassing spelling error in their recent advertisements.
Its United States ad campaign, which was launched ahead of the Copa America tournament, features Colombian football stars such as Frank Fabra and James Rodriguez, with one major boo-boo: Printed in large type across their images is the word “Columbia”.
Yes, that’s right, Columbia.
The mistake has got football fans and netizens all hot under the collar, as images of the erroneous ad immediately began making the rounds on social media.
“I’ve probably spelt Colombia wrong in the past. But adidas really should be getting it right,” said Twitter user Chris Tilly.
Another Twitter user, Andy Checo, tweeted: “Someone please tell adidas that they misspelled Colombia in their entire campaign.”
Adidas released a statement on Tuesday (June 7), apologising for the gaffe, reported The Washington Post.
“We value our partnership with the Colombian Football Federation and we apologise for our mistake. We removed these graphics and are quickly installing new versions today,” it said.
According to The Huffington Post, adidas is not the first major organisation to commit a similar spelling faux pas.
The South American country’s name is misspelled so often that a group of its citizens actually started a social media campaign #ItsColombiaNotColumbia in 2013, said the report.
The Copa America tournament is being hosted by the US, and runs from June 3 to 26, 2016.
xiuhuil@sph.com.sg
