7 controversial shoe releases pulled from the shelves

Nike emblazoned their Fourth of July release with the early-America "Betsy Ross" flag that, despite its place in American history, has gone on to be condemned by the NAACP due to its present-day associations with racism and slavery. Nike immediately pulled the shoe and apologized after Colin Kaepernick – one of the faces of the company – called them out for their blunder.

Much like Nike's Fourth of July shoes, Adidas' 2012 release was rightfully called out for associations with slavery due to the pair's over-the-top shackle design. After being criticized by the likes of Jesse Jackson for their "attempt to commercialize and make popular more than 200 years of human degradation," Adidas cancelled their release.

Umbro's Zyklon shoe, set to drop back in 2002, seemed unassuming enough – that is, until you realize that "Zyklon" was the name of one of the chemicals used in Holocaust gas chambers. Though the company claimed that "the naming of the shoe is purely coincidental," Umbro still pulled the release following a flurry of protest.

These pyro-themed shoes featured a redesign of the "Nike Air" logo in flame font on the back of them – though many from the Muslim community took issue at the logo's resemblance to "Allah" in Arabic characters. Though Nike did pull the shoe in response to the backlash following its 1997 release, the company re-issued them in 2007 – this time sticking to plain text for their "Air" logo.

For the United Arab Emirates' 40th National Day back in 2011, Puma released this exclusive trainer employing a colour scheme lifted from the country's flag. Puma failed to realize, however, the sacred image with which the UAE population views their flag, with the company being called out for trivializing a national symbol – and pulling the shoes in apologetic response.

This past February (and just a week after Gucci's controversial sweater design in the same vein), the singer came under fire for the black version of her "The Rue" slips being likened to a racist caricature. Perry apologized, claiming "our intention was never to inflict any pain," and promptly removed the shoe from the shelves of retailers.

For Black History Month this year, Adidas revealed the "Celebrating Black Culture" edition of their unfortunately-named Uncaged shoe – and as if the name wasn't enough of an oversight, the shoe's all-white design rightly courted enough criticism for Adidas to ultimately pull the shoe ahead of release.