Nike has removed a storefront sign from its one of its Boston retail stores after the advertisement drew a wave of backlash just days before the Boston Marathon on Monday.
The large sign covered a side window of its Newbury Street store in the Back Bay neighborhood and read, “Runners Welcome. Walkers Tolerated.” On Friday, as marathon participants headed to the race expo at the nearby John B. Hynes Veterans Memorial Convention Center to pick up their bibs, users on social media weighed in on the sign’s message.
Disability advocates also noted that the sign could be seen as offense to runners of slower paces, while others on social media praised the directness of the sign especially at an event like the Boston Marathon where runners must qualify with times faster than posted cutoffs.
By noon on Friday, the sign had been removed from the window and the sportswear maker acknowledged that the message could be seen as offensive even though it was intended to motivate those who were running.
Nike acknowledged the backlash in a statement Friday. “We want more people to feel welcome in running—no matter their pace, experience or distance,” the company said in a statement. “During race week in Boston, we put up a series of signs to encourage runners. One of them missed the mark. We took it down, and we’ll use this moment to do better and continue showing up for all runners.”
The sign was apparently installed on Thursday during preparation for race week activities and would have been seen during the period of exceptionally high foot traffic leading up to the marathon. Many footwear and apparel brands have pop-up shops specifically on Newbury Street for the Boston Marathon, while others like Nike operate permanent stores.
The current version of the store has been at the site on the corner of Newbury and Exeter Streets since 2014 when the company revamped a previous space that was home to its NikeTown location that opened in 1996.
Meanwhile, many runners and spectators typically visit numerous brand pop-up shops on Newbury Street within the same time period since the stores are located within walking distance of one another, are near the race expo and close to the marathon finish line.
Nike has leaned into advertising campaigns in the last two years that have promoted messages about championing the sometimes difficult effort needed to win. The 2014 “Winning Isn’t for Everyone” campaign was created with direct input from many of its own top stars and the series stressed the importance of wanting to do whatever was necessary to find victory.
