Nike has sparked fury after starting a partnership with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney – who posed for a series of pictures in leggings and a sports bra.
Mulvaney, 26, posted videos and photos on his Instagram page Tuesday tagging Nike Women while linking to the products’ pages.
Furious feminists, and some men, slammed the decision by Nike to give the coveted sponsorships for a prominent women’s line to a biological man.
In his latest Nike posts, Mulvaney appeared in a pair of black skin-tight leggings and a white sports bra, and could be seen striking yoga poses in a sunny backyard.
A video showed his dancing about the yard in his bare feet doing mock workouts while an upbeat song played over the performance.
https://twitter.com/OliLondonTV/status/1643692648337686528
Many took to social media the express their outrage that Nike had been given the sponsorship and not a biological woman, and puzzled about who the brand was trying to sell its products to with the ads.
‘I really used to enjoy @Nike as a brand but I will never wear another shoe from them after they feature Dylan Mulvaney as their new ambassador for women’s clothing,’ one user wrote. ‘When will these brands understand that women do not want men dressing up as them to advertise their products?’
‘Dylan Mulvaney is making the biggest mockery out of women and I am officially outraged following his collaboration,’ another wrote. ‘You chose him over all hardworking women who workout regularly in your activewear? What a damn damn shame. Absolutely disgusting.’
‘Nike Women have hired Dylan Mulvaney to be the new face of their Women’s Bra & Sports Bra Range,’ wrote a third. ‘A brand would likely pay someone like Dylan, who has 1.7 million followers + huge media attention around $50,000-100,000 for this! Why doesn’t Nike pay a real women to promote a product that is solely for women?’
Others said it looked like Mulvaney was mocking women by putting on a ‘minstrel show’ of femininity in the video, an accusation which has been thrown at his in the past over his content.
It remains unclear how much money Mulvaney was paid for the postings, but insiders dealing with social media sponsorships previously told DailyMail.com he could be making more than $50,000 per paid post. Neither Mulvaney nor Nike responded to DailyMail.com requests for comment.
Mulvaney’s Nike sponsorship comes just days after he stirred up controversy by becoming a spokesperson for Bud Light, a sponsorship which saw his face appear on a special release of their beer cans.
He has angered many feminists by charting his ‘year of girlhood,’ since transitioning from male to female. Earlier this year, Mulvaney underwent grueling facial feminization surgery, which sees facial bones sliced off and sanded down to give trans women a softer, more womanly appearance.
Just days ago, Bud Light sparked harsh backlash from conservatives for partnering with Mulvaney for a March Madness promotion.
People took to social media to express their bafflement at the sponsorship, some filmed themselves shoveling cases of Bud Light into the trash or pouring cans of beer down drains.
