Totem & Taboo
The title of this piece is Totem & Taboo and although it shares this title with Sigmund Freud’s collections of essays on incest taboos and totemic cultures amongst what he terms in the subtitle of his book ‘savages’, it has a slightly different focus. Admittedly this is a brilliant pairing of terms, I’ve found it to be suggestive and generative and have used it before in previous texts. According to Freud it directly connects the foundational ancestor of a group (the Totem) with the prohibition (the Taboo) that protect them – two deep impulses that latently help organize the social order. Although in Freud’s case it does that by insisting on these terms as separate, a duality, sometimes even hinting at a causal relationship between them (in which the Totem would be the cause of the Taboo). Though thinking of prohibition and sacrality as a dichotomy gives us one way of thinking about the very foundation of the law, and helps explain the structural feature of how we organize ourselves into communities, both established and valid ideas – I would like to also propose here something different. Let us for a moment consider Totem and Taboo not as cause and effect but rather as two sides of the very same thing; a unity that covers and hides a gaping vacant hole at the heart of our collective constructions.
The Wikipedia definition of both entities – the German corporation and one of the most successful musicians in the world – acts like a chorus regularly appearing throughout the text to always keep the context of the action in view.
ADIDAS AG IS A GERMAN ATHLETIC APPAREL AND FOOTWEAR CORPORATION
HEADQUARTERED IN HERZOGENAURACH, BAVARIA, GERMANY
IT IS THE LARGEST SPORTSWEAR MANUFACTURER IN EUROPE,
AND THE SECOND LARGEST IN THE WORLD AFTER NIKE
KANYE WEST IS AN AMERICAN RAPPER, RECORD PRODUCER,
SINGER, SONGWRITER, AND FASHION DESIGNER
ONE OF THE WORLD‘S BEST-SELLING MUSIC ARTISTS
160 MILLION RECORDS SOLD, HE HAS WON 24 GRAMMIES
Also continuously punctuating the piece is this important reminder that the material is based on the investigative journalism of the New York Times.
THE NEW YORK TIMES SAYS
The narrative begins by pointing to the vast capital that the corporation and the star had generated together.
AFTER PRODUCING HUNDREDS OF SHOE STYLES
AND BILLIONS OF DOLLARS TOGETHER
The relationship was broken only after Kanye made public anti-Semitic comments.
ADIDAS BROKE WITH KANYE WEST AS HE MADE
ANTISEMITIC PUBLIC COMMENTS
I used this image of Adidas actively ‘holding on’ as a recurrent refrain throughout the piece. It reflects how active they were in keeping this relationship going.
ADIDAS HELD ON FOR YEARS
There are also frequent quotes throughout – quotes that reflect Kanye’s megalomania, as well as various Adidas executives excusing or justifying the relationship.
“I WAS TAUGHT I COULD DO EVERYTHING. AND I’M
KANYE WEST AT AGE 36
SO JUST WATCH THE NEXT 10 YEARS.”
WEST, RADIO INTERVIEW SEPTEMBER 2013
Kanye in his very first work session at Adidas’ corporate headquarters sets the tone for the relationship. Just miles from Nuremberg Kanye draws a swastika on the sketches he’s being shown. He is, from the beginning, testing the limits and finding out what he can get away with.
IT WAS 2013, AND THE RAPPER AND THE SPORTSWEAR
BRAND HAD JUST AGREED TO BECOME PARTNERS
THE ADIDAS TEAM WAS HUDDLED WITH KANYE WEST,
PITCHING IDEAS FOR THE FIRST SHOE
BUT NOTHING THEY SHOWED THAT DAY
AT THE COMPANY’S GERMAN HEADQUARTERS
NOTHING THEY SHOWED THAT DAY
CAPTURED THE VISION MR. WEST HAD SHARED
THEY WERE MEETING JUST MILES FROM NUREMBERG,
AT THE COMPANY’S GERMAN HEADQUARTERS
TO CONVEY HOW OFFENSIVE HE CONSIDERED THE DESIGNS,
HE GRABBED A SKETCH OF A SHOE
THEN HE DREW A SWASTIKA
Almost a decade later and nine days after this statement Adidas finally dropped Kanye. This quote is repeated throughout the piece.
“I CAN SAY ANTISEMITIC THINGS AND ADIDAS CAN’T DROP ME.”
WEST, PODCAST INTERVIEW OCTOBER 2022
Another regularly repeating mantra – and maybe the crux of the issue – tolerance (not the best word in this context) driven by incredible profit.
WHEN THE COMPANY ENDED THE RELATIONSHIP LAST OCTOBER
IT WAS THE CULMINATION OF A DECADE
OF TOLERANCE BEHIND THE SCENES
ADIDAS HELD ON FOR YEARS
It’s important to keep the audience aware of the context throughout – huge profits and growth and a real tangible change in Adidas’ fortunes in the US were all achieved through the partnership struck between the corporation and the Rapper.
SALES OF THE SHOES WOULD SURPASS $1 BILLION A YEAR
MR. WEST WOULD BECOME A BILLIONAIRE
SALES OF THE SHOES WOULD SURPASS $1 BILLION A YEAR,
LIFTING ADIDAS’S BOTTOM LINE AND RECAPTURING ITS COOL
THE ADIDAS-YEEZY DEAL BECAME
THE SECOND-MOST-LUCRATIVE SNEAKER PARTNERSHIP EVER
YEEZY SALES WERE ON TRACK TO REACH $1.8 BILLION IN 2022
MR. WEST, WHO NOW GOES BY YE,
WOULD BECOME A BILLIONAIRE
When the partnership ends the dip in both their fortunes is immediate.
AFTER THE RELATIONSHIP RUPTURED
AND YEEZY SALES CAME TO A HALT
BOTH ADIDAS AND THE MUSICIAN WERE HIT HARD
THE COMPANY PROJECTED ITS FIRST ANNUAL LOSS IN DECADES
ADIDAS’S LEADERS, EAGER FOR THE PROFITS,
TIME AND AGAIN ABIDED HIS MISCONDUCT
Here, the name Adidas is rather oddly not capitalized. According to my research this was intentional and according to some media analysts a way of spotlighting Kanye. We can also read it as a foreshadowing of how much the corporation was willing to contort itself to accommodate what almost became a magical profit producing emblem for them – a totem.
“WE WELCOME TO THE ADIDAS FAMILY ONE OF
THE MOST INFLUENTIAL CULTURAL ICONS
OF THIS GENERATION, KANYE WEST.”
ADIDAS NOVEMBER 2013
An example of Kanye’s behavior – important to note that the staff complains.
IN FEBRUARY 2015, AT NEW YORK FASHION WEEK,
STAFF MEMBERS COMPLAINED THAT HE HAD UPSET THEM
WITH ANGRY, SEXUALLY CRUDE COMMENTS
IN FEBRUARY 2015
STAFF MEMBERS COMPLAINED
HE HAD UPSET THEM
WITH ANGRY, SEXUALLY CRUDE COMMENTS
This refers to Mr. Wexler (identified later on when we return to this story with more detail) who, according to the article, probably did most to make the Kanye-Adidas deal work.
HE LATER ADVISED A JEWISH ADIDAS MANAGER
TO KISS A PICTURE OF HITLER EVERY DAY
However, the Adidas PR Machine continues to romanticize Kanye’s volatile nature. This is probably at least partially because they understand that social media is driven by outrage.
“HE CHALLENGES EVERYTHING BUT HE PUTS FULL ENERGY
INTO HOW HE CHALLENGES IT, AND YOU SEE THE RESULTS,”
NIC GALWAY, A TOP ADIDAS DESIGNER, SAID IN A 2015 INTERVIEW
Kanye here expresses the subtext – is this a wink – a way of saying I can have my cake and eat it too?
“THEY ALLOWED ME TO BE ME, THEY ALLOWED ME TO EXPRESS MYSELF.”
KANYE WEST AT SHOE AWARDS DECEMBER 2015
The interesting thing about the new contract is that it came at a point where Adidas executives must have become quite aware of Kanye’s tempestuous (to say the least) nature, reflected in their insistence to include a morals clause.
EAGER TO BUILD ON THEIR SUCCESS, ADIDAS
AND MR. WEST WERE HAMMERING OUT
A NEW CONTRACT IN 2016
DURING NEGOTIATIONS ON THE MORALS CLAUSE, AN ADIDAS LAWYER,
ALONG WITH MR. WEXLER AND THE
BRAND’S GENERAL MANAGER FOR YEEZY
REFUSED TO BACK DOWN
REFUSED TO BACK DOWN
ON THE MORALS CLAUSE
ADIDAS REFUSED TO BACK DOWN
MR. WEST EVENTUALLY CONCEDED ON ADIDAS’S TERMS:
ANYTHING THAT BRINGS “DISREPUTE, CONTEMPT, SCANDAL”
TO HIM OR TARNISHES ADIDAS
ANYTHING
They however never used the morals clause they fought so hard for.
AFTER PUSHING FOR THE MORALS CLAUSE IN MR. WEST’S CONTRACT,
IT IS NOT CLEAR WHETHER ADIDAS EVEN CONSIDERED INVOKING IT
Around 1400% growth.
NET SALES OF YEEZYS WOULD GROW FROM $65 MILLION
IN 2016 TO $1 BILLION BY 2021
They still do not use the morals clause.
HE CONTINUED TO TELL FRIENDS AND ASSOCIATES,
INCLUDING SEVERAL ADIDAS EMPLOYEES,
THAT JEWS HAD SPECIAL POWERS ALLOWING THEM
TO AMASS MONEY AND INFLUENCE
That was one of Adidas’ prime motivations – to regain the US market share they had lost to NIKE – their main competitors..
THE BRAND WAS GAINING GROUND IN THE UNITED STATES
And as the brand gains ground with unprecedented growth and soaring profits, the partnership is cemented.
THE PARTNERSHIP WAS NOW A MARRIAGE, AS MR. WEST PUT IT,
HE SIGNED THE NEW CONTRACT IN MAY 2016
THE PARTNERSHIP WAS NOW A MARRIAGE
The story of Mr. Wexler is repeated in more detail- this reflects the structure of the article.
MR. WEXLER WHO IS JEWISH
TOLD COLLEAGUES ABOUT SOMETHING SIMILAR
THE ARTIST TOLD HIM TO HANG A PHOTO OF HITLER
IN HIS KITCHEN AND KISS IT EVERY DAY
TO PRACTICE UNCONDITIONAL LOVE
Provocative behavior was also an asset – Kanye’s marketing strategies attuned to social media and virtual dissemination regularly employed shock tactics. Adidas had learned that this worked and is reflected in growing sales.
MEETING WITH ADIDAS’S LEADERS IN NOVEMBER 2019
TO DISCUSS HIS DEMANDS
HE HURLED SHOES AROUND THE ROOM SUGGESTING THAT HE SHOULD
BECOME ADIDAS’S CHIEF EXECUTIVE
EVEN AS MR. WEST VOICED INCREASINGLY TOXIC BELIEFS,
PRIVATELY AND PUBLICLY, ADIDAS STEPPED UP PRODUCTION
SOME OF MR. WEST’S ADIDAS HANDLERS KNEW THAT YEAR
THAT HE WAS CONSIDERING NAMING HIS NEXT ALBUM “HITLER”
THE COMPANY DID NOT WAVER IN ITS SUPPORT OF MR. WEST
NOT AS HE EXPRESSED A TROUBLING FIXATION ON JEWS AND HITLER
THE BRAND WAS GAINING GROUND IN THE UNITED STATES
MR. WEST ALSO TOLD SOME ADIDAS COLLEAGUES
THAT HE ADMIRED HITLER’S COMMAND OF PROPAGANDA
And therefore the bottom line.
“KANYE HAS HELPED US HAVE A GREAT COMEBACK IN THE U.S.”
ADIDAS C.E.O., CNBC INTERVIEW MAY 2018
This shocking statement is not tolerated in the German context and might even cross legal bounds.
HE SAID IT WAS IMPORTANT TO LOVE EVERYONE,
INCLUDING NAZIS
TO LOVE EVERYONE
INCLUDING NAZIS
Again, important to note that the employees were the ones (including many who admired Kanye’s artistry) who called the situation out.
MR. WEST’S PUBLIC AND PRIVATE COMMENTS ABOUT SLAVERY,
JEWS AND HITLER UNSETTLED SOME ADIDAS EMPLOYEES
The fact that Adidas dropped Kanye when he made comments in public is also regularly repeated throughout the piece. It is an absolutely crucial piece of information, as it reveals a cynicism – the issue is not really the content but rather the public perception of it.
NINE DAYS AFTER MR. WEST DECLARED THAT ADIDAS WOULDN’T
END HIS DEAL THE COMPANY DID JUST THAT
Adidas,’post breakup, continue to defend the partnership.
“IT’S VERY SAD THAT THIS IS FALLING APART.”
ADIDAS C.E.O., EARNINGS CALL MARCH 2023
BUT MR. RORSTED, ADIDAS’S CHIEF EXECUTIVE, BATTED THE COMMENT AWAY
“WE’RE NOT SIGNING UP TO HIS STATEMENTS
WE’RE SIGNING UP TO WHAT HE BRINGS TO THE BRAND
AND THE PRODUCTS HE’S BRINGING OUT.”
ADIDAS’S CHIEF EXECUTIVE, BJÖRN GULDEN, PRAISED MR. WEST’S CREATIVITY
AND LAMENTED HOW THE PARTNERSHIP ENDED
“VERY UNFORTUNATE,” MR. GULDEN SAID,
“BECAUSE I DON’T THINK HE MEANT WHAT HE SAID.”
Exponential and continuous growth.
THE BRAND WAS GAINING GROUND IN THE UNITED STATES
YEEZY SALES WERE ON TRACK TO REACH $1.8 BILLION IN 2022
This story does not just reflect the common greed and hypocrisy we expect from big corporations, but expresses a deeper and more structural emptiness, a form of cynical nihilism. What is so tragic is maybe not the cynicism in itself, but rather what it says about the performance of belief.