Nike accused of making light of Holocaust with London Marathon ad

Nike came under fire on Monday for a billboard that was shown at the end of the London Marathon.

The sign read “Never Again. Until Next Year.” It featured black lettering on top of a read background. However, the company, who already faced scrutiny during the week over reports of its alleged funding of a child transgender athletes study, received backlash for using a slogan that had ties to the Holocaust.

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A person walks past a Nike store in Beijing on April 9, 2025. (REUTERS/Tingshu Wang)

The slogan has been used to warn the world to learn lessons from the Holocaust, in which Nazi Germany and their allies killed 6 million Jews, according to the Times of Israel.

Pershing Square CEO Bill Ackman led the criticism of Nike.

“The idea that @Nike would make light of the holocaust using Hitler-red imagery in a post-October 7th world is stunning,” he wrote on X. “Heads need to roll. WTF Nike?”

Rabbi David Schlusselberg weighed in on X as well.

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“This Nike advertisement was displayed at the end of the London Marathon,” he wrote on X. To take a slogan about the Holocaust, and use it for entertainment, is simply grotesque. Nike – Just DON’T do it.”

Fox News Digital reached out to Nike for comment.

The company issued a statement to The Forward, apologizing for the signage.

“We did not mean any harm and apologize for any we caused,” the company said. “The London billboards were part of a broader campaign titled ‘Winning Isn’t Comfortable,’ built on runners’ insights and designed to motivate runners to push past what they think is possible.

A Nike swoosh logo at Nike by Eugene, Oregon, on May 24, 2024. (Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports)

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“A series of billboards with taglines such as ‘Remember why you signed up for this,’ ‘This is bloody tough,’ and ‘Never again until next year,’ were placed along the route to inspire runners and the copy was based on common phrases used by runners.”

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