Adidas Singapore this week received severe backlash from Indonesian netizens for stating that leather shadow puppet, or wayang kulit, is a part of Malaysian culture in a post caption. As a response, Adidas Singapore today (16 November) apologised.

It started when Adidas uploaded a sneak peek of its latest product, a pair of shoes with a wayang kulit-inspired design. In the caption, the brand wrote that the design is an “homage to Wayang Kulit, a significant part of Malaysia’s cultural identity and heritage”. Hundreds of Indonesian netizens commented, “Wayang is Indonesia Culture”, “WAYANG FROM INDONESIAN”, and its variations on the post. 

Adidas Singapore finally issued an apology via its Instagram story. It wrote:

“Thank you for reaching out to us. While Wayang Kulit is a significant part of Malaysia’s cultural heritage, we should have highlighted its origins from Indonesia in our post. We sincerely apologise for any unintentional offence that may have been taken, and have now amended our post.

As stated in the apology, Adidas Singapore did revise the caption in the post.

Wayang kulit is widespread across South East Asia. Cambodia, Thailand and Malaysia also have their own traditional leather shadow puppets, which are generally made from the same material: cow hide.

In Indonesia, the earliest recorded wayang kulit was found in the 1st millennium CE. The culture is profound specifically in Java, Bali and Lombok. Many Indian-Hindu mythologies are adapted into this form of art, such as the story of Ramayana or Mahabharata, and become very popular.

Just like how Adidas Singapore mentioned, wayang kulit also has a profound presence in Malaysian culture. However, in the northern part of Malaysia, the wayang kulit is more influenced by Thailand’s leather shadow puppet or nang yai, while in the southern part, the tradition is influenced by Javanese wayang kulit. 

Adidas Philippines today is also bombarded by Indonesian netizens for posting the same product using a similar caption with Adidas Singapore. Following its fellow country branch, Adidas Philippines issued an apology and edited the caption.