Is graffiti ‘vandalism’? Should it be boycotted?

This e-mail responds to a news story on the Design Week website, which reported that Adidas will be applying the work of seven graffiti artists to one of its clothing lines.

‘We are members of the anti-graffiti association, whose aim is to reduce the impact of graffiti in our society.

To any sensible mind it is ridiculous to glorify and accept graffiti as a style to use on any product. Acceptance of graffiti on the shoes suggests Adidas likes to see graffiti. Perhaps the so-called artists it used would like to visit the Adidas head office and practice their vandalism on Adidas walls and property.

In the US, similar types of graffiti endorsement have been met with a wholesale boycott of the manufacturer’s products. Can we start a similar campaign over here? The US campaign says/ boycott all Coke/Sprite/Atari products until the companies agree to cease supporting illegal graffiti. Let’s add Adidas to the list.’

Roy Johnson, by e-mail