---
bcp_version: "0.8"
file_type: values
parent: https://registry.brandcontextprotocol.dev/adidas-844f46a0/.well-known/brand.md
last_updated: 2026-09-02
---

# Values

These values are decision rules, not aspirations. Each one describes a choice adidas makes when the easier path would be something else.

## 1. Accountability without waste

**tier:** core

When a decision goes wrong, adidas absorbs the consequence rather than destroying value to perform a moral gesture. Accountability means fixing the problem; waste is not a substitute for integrity.

**Operational definition:** Accountability and resource stewardship are treated as compatible, not competing. A visible moral failure demands a real response, but destroying usable value to signal that response is itself a failure. The question is how to resolve both obligations simultaneously.

**Manifestation in practice:** After terminating the Yeezy partnership in October 2022 over Kanye West's antisemitic comments, adidas held approximately $1 billion in unsellable inventory. Destroying it would have cost that full amount and resolved nothing for affected parties. Instead, adidas sold remaining Yeezy stock at cost and donated a portion of profits to charities including the Anti-Defamation League. CEO Bjørn Gulden described the approach as "solving the situation I inherited in the best way possible." (Source: WWD interview with Gulden, retrieved 2026-09-02; Business Insider profile, retrieved 2026-09-02.)

**Demonstrated tradeoff:** Selling Yeezy product under any conditions carried reputational risk. The alternative — destroying over $1 billion in inventory — resolved the reputational question more cleanly but eliminated any possibility of redress. adidas chose a path that kept money flowing to harmed communities at the cost of continued public scrutiny.

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## 2. Inclusive energy

**tier:** default

The brand writes and builds to bring people in. Tone is energetic but welcoming, pushing people forward without making them feel left out.

**Operational definition:** Sport and movement are for everyone, not only elite athletes or dedicated enthusiasts. Messaging that positions adidas as a gatekeeper to performance or culture is off-brand. The test: does this make someone feel invited or does it make them feel they do not qualify?

**Manifestation in practice:** adidas states its DNA as "developing products for all kinds of sports, not only the big ones." The offer spans both Performance (football, running, basketball, outdoor, golf) and Lifestyle (Originals, Sportswear), a deliberate breadth that resists narrowing the brand to a single aspirational archetype.

**Demonstrated tradeoff:** Inclusive positioning competes with exclusivity signaling, which drives resale premiums and cultural cachet in some segments. adidas accepts this tension rather than resolving it by narrowing access.

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## Agent resolution order

When values conflict in a judgment call, prioritize:

1. **Accountability without waste** — external-facing conduct and response to moral failures. Binding. Overrides short-term reputational comfort.
2. **Inclusive energy** — voice, product breadth, and messaging default. Applies across all channels and audiences unless a campaign file overrides for a specific context.

> **Owner confirmation required:** This resolution order is provisional, derived from public evidence. The brand owner should confirm whether accountability-without-waste is the intended top-level invariant or whether another value (for example, a stated sustainability or innovation principle not yet encoded) should rank above or alongside it.

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## Pending evidence gaps

The following items require owner confirmation before this file is complete:

- **Named principle for value 1:** The principle is derived from observed behavior (Yeezy decision) and CEO public statements. No first-party brand document names "accountability without waste" or an equivalent as a stated value. Owner should confirm the preferred name and canonical language.
- **Sustainability as a distinct value:** A German court found adidas guilty of greenwashing on 25 March 2025 for unsubstantiated "climate neutrality" claims. Whether adidas treats sustainability as a core value (with the operational constraints that implies) or as a business program is not resolved by public evidence. This distinction changes what agents may say about adidas's environmental commitments.
- **Additional stated values:** adidas's public termination of the Yeezy partnership cited "diversity, inclusion, mutual respect and fairness" as company values. These have not been confirmed as operational decision rules with the same weight as the values encoded above. Owner should confirm which of these are binding value entries and supply manifestations.

## Evidence record

The following attributable source language is preserved because it materially constrains this profile.

### Owner-confirmed evidence

> After terminating the Yeezy partnership over Kanye West's antisemitic comments, Adidas chose to sell the leftover product at cost and donate a portion of profits to charities like the Anti-Defamation League rather than destroy roughly $1 billion of inventory.

Source: Public source