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The continent least affiliated with Adidas is that of Oceania/Australia. According to Statista, "Greater China" makes up about 22% of the global Adidas revenue in 2021, Asia-Pacific only makes up 10%. Along with this, the factory output in Oceania is negligible. Between Australia and New Zealand, there are only four total factories as of 2010. While this makes sense as these countries belong to the Global North and thus do not depend as greatly on foreign business, it is shocking that such avid sports countries are represented wearing Adidas.

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The host for the 2022 World Cup is Qatar, and its capital city of Doha. The World Cup represents the international recognition of the world's best soccer (or football) athletes in the world, as they strive to bring the cup home to their respective nations. It also marks the 14th straight World Cup where Adidas has provided the official ball, a huge landmark for the prestige of the company. In the contemporary world where Nike has begun dominating sports apparel, it must be comforting for executives at Adidas to know they will likely always have the upper-hand in soccer.

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Factory workers in India working unsuitable conditions.

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It is no coincidence that the countries with the two largest concentrations of Adidas factories are China and India. While their respective humongous population bases are obvious factors to this, there are also many of the same lack of regulations present in China that are practiced in India. This in conjunction with the lack of pollution control in these countries illustrates the greed for profit exacerbated by the neoliberalist capitalist mindset. For those people benefitting at the top, there is no concern for human capital or long-lasting environmental impacts provided they are making a  good profit. This continued abhorrent behavior and exploitation by companies based out of the Global North is essentially neocolonialism. Many of the same practices and institutions are utilized such as the exploitation of foreign land, improper wages for workers, and poor working conditions mirroring the struggles faced by those of past centuries. For there to be change in these countries there must be more of a focus on this injustice faced primarily by those residing in the Global South.
(Mukhopadhyay, Liuu, Heymann, 2008)

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Left, Bill Bowerman, right, Phil Knight.

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When the Dassler brothers split their company in 1949, and ended up forming Adidas and Puma they eventually become the two largest sporting good manufacturers in the world. By the 1960's they had largely dominated this market, but they were not aware of the sleeping giant founded in 1964 by Bill Bowerman (1911-1999) and Phil Knight (1938-). Originally named Blue Ribbon Sports, this company came from humble beginnings to eventual rival of Adidas and Puma until Nike surpassed their market shares and became the largest shoe manufacturer in the world in 2016.
(Britannica | Nike Inc.)

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Brazil is by far the leading producer of Adidas goods in South America with 50 factories in 2010, up from 27 in 2008. This places Brazil second in the Americas, only behind the United States which maintained 71 factories. These numbers pale in comparison to the percentage of Adidas goods used in South America. According to Statista, only 7% of Adidas' total sales revenue came from South America.
(Grahame, 2019)

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Pictured are African athletes training in Adidas gear.

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The entire continent of Africa is home to only 24 Adidas factories. The majority of them reside in South Africa, where 18 of these factories are located. While Africa is a large consumer of Adidas products, (with only those amongst the Global North ranking above) their capacity for production is limited by poor infrastructure throughout the continent. Some may argue that it is better for the countries of Africa to establish local companies instead of inviting foreigners, there may be a common ground to be established. That way there is the ability to satisfy the needs of both Adidas and the nations of Africa.
(Statista, 2022)
(Grahame, 2019)

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Pictured is the soccer ball utilized in the 1970 Mexico City World Cup.

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The 1950's and 60's saw the popularity of Adidas skyrocket globally. The three-stripe branding had seen huge success and Adidas went from solely manufacturing athletic shoes to expanding ventures in apparel and casual wear. With the implementation of factories outside of Germany, Adolf Dassler sought to firmly place Adidas at the forefront of the sports apparel market. And he did this by utilizing the largest, most wide-ranging platform there was, football (soccer).

Soccer is the most popular sport worldwide and for good reason. The teamwork and energy present in a match can make the game electrifying to watch, even if you are not necessarily a fan of the teams. Furthermore, the sport has fairly simple rules which make it easy to grasp for beginners. But most importantly, the only real requirement for soccer is a ball. Provided there is solid ground, there is no need for a regulation-sized net or even goalposts to play casual soccer. All that is needed is an even group for teams and markings for the net (e.g. putting two stones to mark goalposts). This makes soccer the most easily accessible sport for people of any economic background, leading to its extreme popularity in the Global South.

Adidas had begun to dominate this sector, as their apparel and shoes had become increasingly popular amongst soccer players. This culminated in the 1970 World Cup (an event where the best players from each country play for their national teams to compete for the Cup) held in Mexico City. This was a huge deal for Adidas as the Telstar ball was introduced as the official ball for the World Cup, and Adidas has remained the sole producer of balls for the World Cup since. Adidas benefitted greatly from this deal because they now had the sole branding rights on the ball for the biggest soccer tournament. This meant that anytime someone was watching the World Cup they would see the ball adorned in Adidas styling and naturally wish the same for themselves. The thinking was if Adidas became the standard for soccer at the highest level then the public would soon like to emulate their favorite players and use the same ball. As previously mentioned, this has been a resounding success as the Adidas soccer ball continues to be the only ball utilized during the World Cup for over fifty years.
(Soccer, 2022)

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2020 was a year unlike any other in the 21st century. With the outset of the global COVID-19 pandemic, and the resulting shutdown of public interaction there were many movements inspired. The most notable being protests inspired by the Black Lives Matter movement, due to the horrendous, despicable murder of George Floyd at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer. This public outrage at his defenseless murder sparked many debates surrounding systemic racism against people of color at the hands of those in power who are mainly middle-aged white men.

For Adidas, a company popular amongst the Black community the reaction was mixed. While there were efforts of the company aiming to hire more people of color, (about 30% of new positions were to be filled by visible minority groups) there were multiple reports of racial transgressions being faced by those already employed by Adidas. For this reason, Julia Bond, a former Adidas assistant apparel designer, publicly posted a letter sent to Adidas' North American headquarters in hopes of commencing change. A couple of days later she began protesting outside the Portland headquarters and inspiring others with her courage to speak out. Soon enough, many former and current employees began sharing their stories of racism and prejudice and joining in her protest in front of the headquarters. Her bravery united those people feeling oppressed by the company and illustrated that globalization from below can have a serious effect if given the platform to do so. Julia Bond's demonstrations gave hope to those suffering in silence and courage to those afraid of voicing their experiences due to a potential loss of employment.
(NY Times | Tan, 2020)

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Protests at Adidas headquarters featured by New York Times

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Pictured is a Chinese Adidas factory assembly line.

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Adidas is a global sportswear manufacturer with factories all over the world. However, in the modern-day, the majority of Adidas factories are located in China. With 337 factories or 27% of the total factory output being based in China, the country is essential to the continued production of Adidas goods.
(Statista, 2021)
(Grahame, 2019)

The reason for this is that China lacks many of the requirements and regulations of the working conditions present in most countries amongst the Global North. This, in conjunction with the world's largest population lends China to being the world's primary outsourcing partner to produce Western goods for cheaper costs. Unfortunately, there is controversy surrounding these dealings as there are reports Adidas utilizes child labor and unjust wages to create a large profit margin for their business. While Adidas denies these claims and states that they do all it can to eliminate these practices, the truth is that utilizing third-party manufacturers makes it difficult to regulate its workplace conditions consistently.
(Investopedia, 2022)

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Ye pictured outfitted in a "White Lives Matter" shirt.

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Kanye "Ye" West (1977-) is a popular musical artist, who capitalized on his immense musical fame to expand his personal brand. He initially developed shoes with Nike from 2007-2014. Utilizing his creativity and artistic expression, he became vastly influential in the world of fashion by the mid-2010's. However, he felt as though he had not benefitted from the deal as he'd hoped, which led to his departure from Nike for Adidas in 2013.
(Ema, 2017)

While working under contract for Adidas from 2014-2022, Ye's Yeezy line became immensely popular in streetwear culture. This came at a time when Adidas had been displaced by Nike as the most popular sportswear manufacturing company in the world. Therefore, Ye's vision had been successful in restoring Adidas' relevancy. Last year alone, Yeezy generated $2 billion in annual sales for Adidas, which was equivalent to roughly 10% of its total revenue.
(TFL, 2021)

However, Ye has been surrounded by controversy many times during his contract. Most recently he was accused of being anti-Semitic because of insensitive, prejudiced comments regarding his views on Jewish history, culture, and contemporary issues.

While his views on the matter are extreme and indefensible, one interesting thing to note is how his comments led to his release from his contract with Adidas. One of the main points Ye made pertained to Jewish media moguls "owning the Black voice". While there is no direct connection between people in positions of power of Jewish descent and those advocating for the termination of his contract with Adidas, it is imperative to note how quickly action was taken against him. His swift termination for these comments, while he has openly said and done things that were extremely controversial in the Black community, (saying slavery was a choice and wearing a White Lives Matter shirt to a Yeezy event in Paris being chief examples) were eye-opening in the point he wrongly tried to make.
(ADL, 2022)

To me, this illustrates globalization from above factors, where a Black man with a huge following and fanbase is silenced because his views no longer align with those of his employers. These people in power are aware of the influence people like Ye can have and are justly afraid of him drawing attention to larger issues than everyday problems. While I do not share the opinions of Ye, the reaction is telling when comparing it to the lack of action when he exhibited racial insensitivity towards the Black community. Especially when considering Adidas' past involvement in the Nazi regime and the families' resulting profits from the collaboration.

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Karhu Sports athletic spiked shoes (circa 1947)

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The Dassler Brothers Shoe Company remained one of the most popular athletic footwear brands in Europe despite their Nazi connections. The brothers Adolf and Rudolf were looking to expand their company, but were unable to agree on how they wished to proceed. No one is certain on what exactly occurred, but there are rumors Adolf sold information to the Allies pertaining to Rudolf's whereabouts during World War II.

By 1949, the Dassler Brothers Shoe Company was dissolved. Instead, the two brothers split the company into Rudolf's company, initially named Ruda (later renamed "Puma") and Adolf's company "Adidas". Adidas was made utilizing Adolf's nickname, "Adi" and the first syllable of his surname, Dassler

In 1952, Adolf Dassler purchased the rights to the now-famous "three-stripes" model from Finnish sportswear manufacturer Karhu Sports. Dassler would then implement this design on his footwear from then on and ingrain the iconic branding to his new company. Considering the reported price of £1,600 (considering inflation would be equivalent to about £54,000) and two bottles of whiskey, it is safe to say Adidas got the better end of the deal.

(Britannica | Adidas)

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Pictured is the first Dassler Brothers Shoe Company factory.

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The growth of the Dassler Brothers Shoe Company became exponential upon the success of their shoes at the Olympics. They became increasingly close-knit with the Nazi regime and with Hitler as a result. They began to establish a few factories which ended up supplying the Wehrmacht (German military) with footwear during this period. However, with German military production being stretched increasingly thin in the middle-to-late stages of the war, these factories began to be commandeered for the production of war equipment.
(Business of Business | Dark History of Adidas)

When U.S. troops began to reach German soil in 1945, Adolf Dassler's wife pleaded with them not to destroy their primary factory, claiming they were forced to manufacture equipment and insisted they only wished to produce footwear. This was not true as the family had officially been instated as members of the Nazi Party and thus sympathetic to Hitler's cause. When the occupying American soldiers realized that this had been where Jesse Owens' shoes were manufactured, they began buying the "Geda" (shoe model worn by Owens) in large quantity.
(Dark History of Adidas | Lamare, 2021)

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Jesse Owens pictured on the left in 1936, along with the shoes he wore pictured on the right.

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The 1936 Olympics were of interest for several reasons. The games were to be held in Berlin, the capital of Germany and one of the largest, most prestigious cities in Europe. Nearly twenty years after the German defeat in World War I, the German people had regained their strong economy, sense of pride, and their place as a world superpower. Much of this was attributed to the new regime installed in 1933, known as the Nazi Party (National-Socialist Party) led by Adolf Hitler (1889-1945). This gain of power and advancements in technology led to these being the first-ever televised Olympic Games. While the viewing was not widely available, as most people were not affluent enough to afford a television, there were public viewing rooms where the events were broadcasted.
(Britannica | 1936 Berlin Olympics)

For this reason, the Olympics represented a major opportunity for the Dassler Brothers in the promotion of their shoes. They enlisted the aid of American athlete Jesse Owens (1913-1980) by approaching him with the chance to become the first African-American male athlete with a shoe sponsorship. Jesse Owens donned the shoes and proceeded to dominate by winning four gold medals. The publicity given to Owens as a result gave the Dassler Brothers increased popularity and a platform to show their innovative product. The following years saw the company selling about 200,000 pairs of shoes per year until 1939, with the start of World War II.
(Britannica | Adidas)

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Adolf Dassler (pictured on the left) and Rudolf Dassler (pictured on the right)

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Upon returning from serving in World War I, Adolf "Adi" Dassler (1900-1978) founded the Gebrüder Dassler Schuhfabrik (Dassler's Brothers Shoe Company) at his mother, Paulina Dassler's house in 1924. He was later joined by his older brother Rudolf Dassler (1898-1974) who would aid in the development of spiked athletic shoes for runners (spikes). Initially, electricity had been unreliable in their small town of 20,000. There were times they had to peddle on a stationary bike to generate power to craft the shoes. Their combined efforts resulted in the innovation of replacing heavy metal spikes with ones made of rubber and canvas. This made the wearer lighter on their feet, and thus at an advantage compared to those utilizing metal spiked shoes. The shoes had begun to gain popularity until their professional introduction by Jesse Owens at the 1936 Olympics. (Tomlinson, 2010)