From:
http://www.ncjrs.gov/txtfiles/shoes.txt

Drug Czar Brown Slams Adidas Sports Shoe Company For Using Drug Slang To Sell Athletic Shoes To Teens.


       Executive Office of the President
     Office of National Drug Control Policy

               PRESS RELEASE

For Immediate Release:  Friday, January 12, 1996
Contact:  Bob Weiner/Alexis Revis-Yeoman 202-395-
6618

**************************************************
Departing White House Drug Czar Brown Slams Adidas
Sports Shoe Company For Using Drug Slang To Sell
Athletic Shoes To Teens;  Demands Company Recall
Or Stop Selling "The Hemp"
**************************************************

     As one of his last actions as the Nation's
National Drug Control Policy Director, White House
Drug Czar Lee Brown is calling on athletic shoe
company giant Adidas to recall or stop selling its
"The Hemp" shoe.  The shoe had been scheduled for
distribution to its vast network of retailers over
the next few months.  "Hemp" is a street slang for
marijuana.

     In a statement amplifying a letter to Adidas
America President Steve Wynne, Brown said, "The
people at this shoe company apparently think this
is cute, but it us really quite deadly --
especially at a time in which more and more of our
young people do not fear illegal drugs and as a
result, are using them.  Moreover, it has been
widely reported that on the shoe factory floor and
in the executive suites, this new shoe has been
referred to as the "Chronic," another street name
for drug abuse.

     "You simply cannot pretend to be selling
health and fitness while at the same time wink at
drug abuse.  It is marketing and hypocrisy of the
worst kind," Brown said.

     Brown asked Adidas for an answer to his
letter to company president Steve Wynne prior to
January 11 but received only a brief response
"refusing to recognize even that a problem
exists," according to Brown.  Wynne's letter
asserts that "Hemp is not marijuana."  Brown, in a
new letter today, responded, "You fail to get the
point.  It doesn't matter what your shoe is made
of -- the question is what you call it.  Your
sarcasm shows a blatant disregard of the fact that
we have a crisis among kids who think using
marijuana is the thing to do.  By first titling
the shoe "The Chronic" and now "The Hemp," you
have chosen two street slang terms for marijuana. 
Kids often send a message by what they wear. I do
not think it is in the goal of curbing drug abuse
to imply that drugs are cool."

     The text of Brown's January 5 and 12 letters
follow:

     (January 5):  "On behalf of the children of
America who often construct their personal images
at least in part on the shoes and clothing youth
market, I call upon you not to market a shoe
called the "The Hemp," whose name is identical
with street slang for marijuana.  I further call
upon you to publicly pledge your company to
actions which promote only good health for our
youth and reject anything which can be associated
with illegal drugs.  

     "There can be no doubt as to the cynical
marketing game being played by selling a shoe with
the name, "The Hemp," to capitalize on the drug
culture -- especially because the designer of the
shoe has been widely quoted as referring to the
original model as "The Chronic" -- yet another
street term for marijuana.

     "I implore you to not market any shoe or
garment with a name glorifying the drug culture. 
If any shipments have been made of "The Hemp," 
recall them;  cease selling it and reject any
association with the drug culture.  To do less
would be corporate irresponsibility worthy of
public condemnation by any and all responsible
citizens.

     "In order to send the right message to the
children of America, I would ask you to take the
above described actions immediately..."

     (January 12):  "I appreciate your response of
January 11 to my letter of January 5 asking a
recall or stop of the sale of "The Hemp" shoe
because of its title glorifying the drug culture. 
While I am glad that you commit the enormous
weight of Adidas conceptually to curbing drug use,
I am afraid you fail to get the point concerning
the name of this shoe.

     "What your shoe is made of is not the
problem.  The problem is what you call it.  The
sarcasm in your letter shows a blatant disregard
of the fact that we have a crisis among kids who
think using marijuana is the thing to do.  By
first titling the shoe "The Chronic," as the
article you sent states it was at first, and now
"The Hemp," you have chosen two street slang terms
for marijuana -- plain and simple.  As you know,
kids often send a message by what they wear.   I
do not think it is in the goal of curbing drug
abuse to imply that drugs are cool.

     "That is why we ask you to please find
another name for this shoe.  Please do not call it
"The Hemp" or market any shoe with any pro-drug
culture name which will be misunderstood by
children.  If you take this action, you will help
send an important message that corporations can be
a part of the solution to healthier youth."

     During his 2 1/2 year tenure, Brown launched
a successful campaign against drug "look-alike"
products and this past July held a news conference
with RC Cola officials announcing that company's
changing of its "Draft" label to reduce a
resemblance to alcoholic products.  Brown added,
"there is a corporate practice in our society that
blurs right from wrong for our children, and it
amounts to the cultural seduction of kids by drug
gateway products.  Corporations must stop equating
illegal substances with coolness!  Corporations
can be a part of the solution to healthier youth.

