Adidas suspects that the abuse of the five-star red flag was shelled by netizens

A 350-dollar sports bag sold at an Adidas store in Hong Kong uses the flag “red five-star” as the basic pattern. The star of the largest of the five stars is printed with the Adidas logo.

In the Hong Kong market, there are currently two German products known as the Adidas brand. The suspected abuse of China’s five-star red flag design may violate the “National Flag Act”. Reporters yesterday did not find similar products at Adidas' Huaqiangbei store and Dongmen store in Shenzhen.

Reporter Shenzhen inspects no similar products

The reporter went to Shenzhen Huaqiang North Maoye Department Store yesterday. Adidas has a large-scale supermarket on the 7th floor. The reporter did not find any "national flag pack" similar to that found in Hong Kong. In the exclusive area of ​​the bag, there is a full-red package. In addition to not printing five yellow stars, the other designs are similar. The price is 350 yuan. The reporter asked the clerk if there is a Chinese flag style package for sale. The clerk said no.

For Adidas to use the Chinese flag as a product appearance, the Internet has caused many Internet users to discuss. Some netizens believe that Adidas's approach is not appropriate. They do not use the national flag as a product, but also change the national flag design. They should apologize. Some netizens believe that Adidas is not offensive to the Chinese national flag. This is a design for Adidas products. Before that, there were the German flag packs and the national flag design shoes. The reporter saw on an auction website that Adidas had a package of the German flag. The Adidas logo was printed on the black stripe. In Adidas China flag pack sold in Hong Kong, there was no such product sold.

Adidas: Apologize for dissatisfaction

According to reports in Hong Kong newspapers yesterday, Beijing Olympics partner Adidas, whose at least two Olympic sports bags and Polo shirts are suspected to have abused Chinese five-star red flag designs, may violate the "National Flag Law." Adidas responded that if the incident caused anyone to be unhappy, the company apologized heartily and decided to stop selling the two products in real time.

The reporter found that a sporting goods store in Sheung Shui, Hong Kong, and two Adidas stores in Tsim Sha Tsui and Causeway Bay were all found to be selling 350-star Wuxingqi sports bags. The sports bag uses the flag “Red Yellow Yellow Star” as its basic pattern, and the largest of the five stars is printed with the Adidas logo.

A clerk pointed out that the sports bag arrived only at the beginning of this year and was a new product launched to meet the Olympics. At the Adidas store in Tsim Sha Tsui, the reporter discovered another short-sleeved Polo shirt that also used the “Red Yellow Yellow Star” flag pattern, which also sold for 350 yuan.

As a lawyer, Legislative Council member Tu Jinshen pointed out that the use of the national flag pattern in commercial products is highly likely to violate the "National Flag and National Emblem Ordinance" unless it has been exempted from relevant units.

Some members of the Hong Kong Legislative Council believe that the Beijing Olympic Games will be held soon. The relevant units may consider allowing some Olympic products with the Chinese flag to be sold, such as sportswear, to facilitate businesses and consumers without insulting the national flag.

Adidas responded that it has decided to temporarily suspend the sale of the two products, and pointed out that if the above sports bag and Polo shirt design caused anyone to be unhappy or dissatisfied, Adidas heartily apologized. Adidas emphasized that as a partner of the Chinese Olympic Committee, there is absolutely no offense against China. The product is just to praise and celebrate China as the host country of the 2008 Olympic Games.

Use the national flag pattern to impose a maximum fine of 50,000 yuan

The Hong Kong Administration Department stated that it did not respond to individual incidents and refused to answer whether Adidas had applied for exemption on the national flag pattern product. However, unless it is approved by the Department in advance, no one may use the national flag or national emblem in any trademark, advertisement, industry, occupation or profession, and offenders may be fined up to 50,000 yuan. If the relevant unit receives a complaint, it will request the relevant organization to comply with the requirement and consider referring the case to relevant departments for follow-up action.

Adidas has sponsored the Chinese national football team in recent years and has produced team uniforms for the national team. According to reports, Adidas earlier defeated famous brands of famous sports products such as “Li Ning” with a sky-high price of more than RMB 1 billion, won the qualification of partner of 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, and was responsible for producing the 2008 Olympic Games appearance service.