Turkey has imposed a fine of over $15,000 on Adidas for not informing customers that one of its flagship footwear models contained pigskin.
The German sportswear giant was fined 550,059 Turkish lira ($15,200) by the country's advertising regulator.
The regulator criticised Adidas for promoting the "Samba OG" trainers – worn by celebrities such as Kendall Jenner and Bella Hadid – as made from "real leather," without disclosing that it was pigskin.
The ruling, which was seen by the foreign news agency on Thursday, stated that materials "contrary to the religious sensibilities of the majority of society must be clearly mentioned" in advertisements and product descriptions.
Adidas acknowledged the fine but confirmed it had updated the product description on its Turkish e-commerce website. "Following an individual notification regarding a product description on our Turkish e-com website, we have updated the material specifications for the product accordingly," the company said in a brief statement.
In 2020, Turkey's Presidency of Religious Affairs ruled that it is "not permissible to manufacture shoes or garments from pigskin or pigskin hair," adding that pigskin cannot be made pure through tanning or similar processes, a view widely accepted by Muslim scholars.
