Why Adidas Is Facing Boycott Calls Over Its Single Shoe Campaign

Adidas’s Single Shoe Service is an accessibility measure designed for people with leg-limb differences. But the company has drawn boycott calls after reports that its Israeli campaign featured Shalev Biton, a former Israeli soldier who lost a leg after being wounded during the 2021 Gaza conflict. For critics, the choice of spokesperson transformed an inclusion-focused campaign into a politically charged symbol. 34

What the Single Shoe Service offers

Adidas says customers with a leg-limb difference can purchase the one in-stock shoe they require at 50% of the full-pair price through participating Adidas-owned stores in 23 European countries. The service had been live since January 19, 2026; Adidas published its announcement on March 11, 2026. 18

That distinction matters: criticism is not principally about the idea of selling individual shoes. Reporting on the boycott calls instead focuses on Adidas’s choice to feature Biton in an Israeli campaign promoting the service. 34

Why the choice of ambassador sparked backlash

Reports describe Biton as a former Israeli soldier who lost his left leg while serving during the 2021 Gaza conflict and later promoted the partnership on Instagram. Activists objected to his military background and argued that presenting him as the face of a humanitarian-minded accessibility initiative was politically and morally tone-deaf in the context of the war in Gaza. 37

The key claim from critics is one of representation: a global brand is highlighting the experience of an Israeli veteran while Palestinians with similar injuries face far larger unmet needs for treatment, rehabilitation and prosthetic care. That is the basis of the boycott message circulating online. 23

Gaza’s rehabilitation crisis gives the campaign its wider context

The reaction has been sharpened by the scale of conflict-related disability in Gaza. WHO reported in June 2026 that, among 2,300 people with amputated limbs evaluated between September 2024 and May 2026, only 500—less than 25%—had received permanent prostheses. WHO also said that no rehabilitation facility in Gaza was fully functional. 36

Earlier WHO analysis estimated 3,105 to 4,050 limb amputations in Gaza by July 2024, alongside a much broader need for long-term rehabilitation after severe limb injuries, burns, spinal injuries and other trauma. 41 Later reporting continued to describe thousands of amputations and a disproportionate impact on children. 4849

These figures do not make an individual shoe-retail service comparable to emergency medical or prosthetic provision. They do explain why critics view the campaign’s imagery and spokesperson choice through the lens of a humanitarian crisis rather than as a conventional brand partnership.

What can—and cannot—be concluded

The evidence supports a straightforward conclusion: Adidas is facing a reputational and political backlash because critics link Biton’s military service and the campaign’s wartime context to Gaza’s unmet amputee and rehabilitation needs. 3436

It does not follow from the available reporting alone that Adidas endorses Israeli military policy, nor does the reporting establish that Biton committed a specific violation. Those are separate allegations that would require independent evidence. The more precise account is that a disability-accessibility campaign has become controversial because of who was selected to represent it, and because of the conflict in which that person was injured.

The broader lesson for brand campaigns

Accessibility initiatives can be meaningful while still attracting criticism over execution. In politically charged contexts, the spokesperson, setting and surrounding humanitarian conditions can become as consequential as the product or service being promoted. Adidas’s Single Shoe Service illustrates that tension: a practical retail accommodation has been overshadowed by the symbolism of its campaign casting.