Adidas ‘The Ridiculous Run’ & Study Highlights Female Running Fears & Drives Male Attitudinal Change

In March, adidas released a campaign called ‘The Ridiculous Run’ to highlight the findings of brand research documenting the fears women have whilst out running and the lengths they go to in order to feel safe.

 

Adidas sought to highlight how safety is a major issue for women when running and point out the unfair and ridiculous fact that it is women who are forced to take sole responsibility for their own protection.

 

Part of its brand commitment to women, the Adidas campaign – running under its longstanding, umbrella ‘Impossible Is Nothing’ platform – aims to educate men on their behaviour, learn what it takes to be an ally and drive change.

 

According to an adidas ‘With Women We Run’ study in partnership with White Ribbon, 92% of women don’t feel safe while running: around 50% fear being attacked and 56% have received unwanted attention while running outside. So 69% of women surveyed take precautions whilst out running such as running with one earphone in, bringing an alert whistle, wearing loose clothing, notifying friends before and after a run, or training with a ‘protective partner’. 

 

The research surveyed 9,000 runners – 50% women and 50% men – across seven countries to highlight women’s safety concerns and calling for male education and allyship to incite change. Yet, while adidas found 62% of men recognise the issues female runners face, only 18% believe the responsibility lies mostly with men to help women feel safer.

 

After experiencing harassment, 46% of women said they had lost interest in running, compared to 33% of men.

 

To highlight its findings, 10 March saw the German sportswear giant team up with agency TBWA\Neboko and release a 48-second online film called ‘The Ridiculous Run: for a ridiculous reality.’ which featured women running at night with cars and motorcycles escorting them for safety.

 

 

The brand believes that ‘allyship’ is vital in working towards a equality and safety for all, and so, alongside the film and supporting content, Adidas enabled a runner’s live location in adidas running app to be automatically shared with selected contacts to help track their run.

 

Plus, as the study found that 39% of women feel safer when running as part of a club, adidas also created a hub for runners to discover local community runs and other events that support the With Women We Run (WWWR) cause.

 

“We believe sport should be equal, and safety is essential to creating that reality. We know from our communities, and our research, that safety is the most discussed topic when it comes to women and running—and unfortunately women continue to be made responsible for protecting themselves,” said Adidas Women Global Communications Director Sina Neubrandt. “Addressing this issue is a marathon, not a sprint, and our campaign will not solve this overnight. But if we can encourage more men to understand their role as allies, we can create progress and, hopefully, change.”

 

 

Comment

 

This campaign is also seen as an addidas response to the much criticised 2022 Samsung ‘Night Owls’ campaign which featured woman running confidently alone at night. It drew a widespread, angry response as critics complained that it didn’t reflect the dangers faced by women and the UK Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) received 27 complaints calling the ad “irresponsible” and “harmful.”

 

 

Adidas’ WWWR project is currently active in 49 countries and across 72 communities with the goal of ‘creating long-lasting change at a grassroots level’. The initiative seeks to drive awareness of the importance of ongoing education to change running culture and build strong, safe and unified communities.

 

The initiative encourages runners around the world to sign the White Ribbon pledge – ‘I Pledge To Never Commit, Condone, Or Remain Silent About Violence Against Women’ – which has thus far seen more than 120,000 signatures each attesting to the brand community’s effort to tackle gender-based inequality and violence.

 

The project’s ongoing events and activities include WWWR monthly webinars delivered in tandem with White Ribbon, plus discussion panels and local community events.

 

The potential of the adidas project’s reach is reflected in a 2022 Nielsen study which found that four in 10 people consider themselves runners – 30% of whom run at least once a week.

 

Running continues to grow globally: A 2021 study by RunRepeat found that 29% of current runners began running during Covid.

 

Little surprise then that running brands like Hoka, One and Brooks Running continue to report record sales growth.

 

Adidas also recently released another campaign developed with TBWA\Neboko focused on runners with disabilities and titled ‘Running Needs Nothing But You’. The 60-second spot features five diverse runners and encourages them “to see past distance and expectation” explaining that “running is about you, your personal experience, and nothing else.”