USA Track & Field (USATF) sent a cease-and-desist letter to Oiselle, the women's run apparel brand, over some doctored photos of Team USA uniforms from the World Relays. The altered image replaces the Nike logo with logo of Oiselle and some other brands the women on the U.S. women's 4 x 1500-meter team are sponsored by.
According to Runner's World, Kate Grace, a sponsor of Oiselle, posted a photo on Oiselle's Instagram feed of Grace and her teammates on the awards stand after the U.S. women's 4 x 1500-meter team finished second at the IAAF World Relays Championships on May 26. Nike's logo on the U.S. uniforms are replaced by each of the logos of three of the athletes' current sponsors. Besides Grace's uniform logo showing Oiselle, Katie Mackey's uniform showed the Brooks logo and Brenda Martinez was changed to the New Balance logo. Heather Kampf, the fourth team member and an Asics sponsor, continues to show the Nike logo.
“We posted a photo to thank all the sponsors who supported the athletes that set an American record,” said Sally Bergesen, the founder and CEO of Oiselle on a blog post. “Five hours later, we received the cease-and-desist letter from USATF claiming potential damage to their sole sponsor [Nike], and we took down the photo to remove any questions or confusion.”
The news came out due to a blog post by Sally Bergesen, the founder and CEO of Oiselle. Her post, which includes the USATF letter, is here.
Nike in April renewed its sponsorship of the USATF until 2040. Nike provides all of the apparel worn by U.S. national teams. Upon acceptance to a national team, athletes sign an agreement saying they will not alter the uniform or logo.
The Runner's World article is here.
