Nike & BT Considering Pistorius Sponsorship after Fatal Shooting

Oscar Pistorius’ sponsors Nike and BT have made it clear they will not yet decide whether to drop their sponsorship of Paralympic icon Oscar Pistorius following reports he may have shot his girlfriend, until more details are produced.

Pistorius nicknamed the Blade Runner, has a number of major sponsors including BT, Nike and Oakley and was the poster boy for London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games as he competed in both.

Nike South Africa have come out and said they will not make a decision until they know more details about the fatal shooting that left model Reeva Steenkamp dead.

“This is a very unfortunate story and it is still under investigation. We’ll not make any decision until we hear from Oscar or his agent,” Nike SA spokeswoman Seruscka Naidoo said.

A Nike advert with the tagline ‘I am the bullet in the chamber’ has already been removed from Oscar Pistorius’ website in the wake of the shooting.

The ad showed a lycra-clad Pistorius sprinting out of the blocks next to the sportswear brand’s ‘Just do it’ message and swoosh.

BT, who’s London 2012 Olympic marketing included the athlete, told Marketing Week, Pistorius “is still a BT ambassador”.

A written statement adds: “We are shocked by this terrible, tragic news.  We await the outcome of the South African police investigation.”

A South African pay television channel which broadcasts across the continent announced it had canned a campaign featuring the runner.

“Out of respect and sympathy to the bereaved, M-Net will be pulling its entire Oscar campaign featuring Oscar Pistorius with immediate effect,” M-Net Movies said in a tweet.

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