Nike sorry over 'Black and Tan' shoe 
 
 JENNIFER WHOLEY 
 
 Sports wear company Nike has apologised for a controversy that arose over the name of its new runner - "The Black and Tan". 
 
 Nike said the shoe “has been unofficially named by some using a phrase that can be viewed as inappropriate and insensitive. We apologise. No offence was intended.” 
 
 The company released two new beer-themed skateboarding shoes to coincide with St Patrick’s Day - the Guinness, featuring a black leather upper and tan elements, and a variation of a Nike shoe that was called The Black and Tan because of its colouring. 
 
 The nickname refers to a mixed-beer drink popularised in the United States, consisting of a half pint of stout topping a half pint of ale or lager. An image of the drink is pictured on the inside of the shoe. 
 
 For Irish people, however, the name recalls the British paramilitary unit that was involved in violent action against civilians in the 1920s. 
 
 “When launched, it is likely to be available in several countries albeit in limited numbers. It won't be on sale in Ireland as we hadn't planned to distribute it in Ireland,” a spokesperson for Nike said. 
 
 This is not the first time a company has failed to appreciate the global implications of a new product name. Ice cream company Ben & Jerry’s released a “Black and Tan” ice cream flavour six years ago, also referring to the drink. While the product was only available in the United States, Ben & Jerry’s apologised. 
 
 “If you hadn't told me this, I wouldn't think twice about the sneaker name - no different than releasing a shoe called a ‘lemon drop’,” said Jacqueline Klimas, a US journalist. 
 
 Comments on this story on Facebook: 
 
 Blair Schilling, who studied at NUI Galway: “I knew about them {Black and Tans], but not before I came to Ireland,”. 
 
 Aoife NicAodh: “I only ever heard of it when I was playing an online game and they decided it was a good drink to have in their online ‘Irish’ bar. When I told them it was a really f***ing insensitive name, especially for an ‘Irish’ bar, they just shrugged more or less”. 
 
 Lauren Cohen: “This is a shockingly common practice, giving things inappropriate names. For example, the Reebok Incubus. Then there was the appliance company that wanted to name something Zyklon. Zyklon B was the insecticide used in gas chambers during the Holocaust.” 
 
 Twitter comments: 
 
 Oliver Farry, Irish journalist living in Paris - “@fearraigh75: Memo to US branders: your local Irish bar notwithstanding, 'Black and Tan' and St. Patrick's Day don't go well together” 
 
 Pete O'Mara Kane, from London – “@pomarakane: Wow . . . happy saint Patrick’s day . . . I wonder how many Irish Americans will know the significance...” 

 Nike Kicks Up Controversy With 'Black And Tan' Shoes 
 
 One of Nike's latest sneaker creations — dubbed by retailers "The Black and Tan" — is rolling out just in time for St. Patrick's Day. To many Americans the "Black and Tan" is the half stout, half pale ale drink. But to the Irish, it was a brutal paramilitary group employed by the British in the early twentieth century to put down Irish revolutionary fighters. Robert Siegel and Melissa Block have the story. 
 
 MELISSA BLOCK, HOST: 
 
 If you love Saint Patrick's Day but you hate green, Nike has the shoe for you, or so it thought. 
 
 ROBERT SIEGEL, HOST: 
 
 The athletic apparel behemoth is releasing a new version of its SB Dunk Low, a popular casual shoe. It is black and tan-colored. And since we're getting close to Saint Paddy's Day, the shoe has a nickname that is apparently beer-inspired - the Black and Tan. 
 
 BLOCK: And that's where Nike gets into trouble. Here in the U.S. or in Britain, you might order a Black and Tan at a pub and get a mixture of an Irish stout, such as Guinness, and a lager, like Harp. But that's not the original meaning of Black and Tan. 
 
 SIEGEL: I talked today with Brian Boyd of The Irish Times newspaper, and he explained. 
 
 BRIAN BOYD: It has certain historical associations. The Black and Tans were a ruthless auxiliary force of the British army before we became independent in the 1920s. They were responsible for wide-scale massacres, butchering of people. You would not - we don't even - for example, in the U.S. you may go into a bar and ask for a drink called a Black and Tan. 
 
 SIEGEL: And that would be - I'm not saying this from great personal familiarity - that would be a half of a black beer, like a Guinness, and a half of a pale ale with it. But you wouldn't call it that in Ireland? 
 
 BOYD: No, we'd use different terms. And in fact, we wouldn't really dilute our Guinness over here. It's not really the done thing to do. 
 
 BLOCK: Now, Nike has released a statement saying: We apologize, no offense was intended. At the same time, Nike says the sneaker has been, quote, unofficially named by some as the Black and Tan. 
 
 SIEGEL: That said, if you look inside the shoe - as we have done with online photos - you see an image of a pint of beer with two colors, black and tan. 
 
 BLOCK: Brian Boyd of The Irish Times has reported on some outrage over the shoe. But really, he says, it's not about a shoe. It's about a holiday. 
 
 BOYD: It's how the Americans view Saint Patrick's Day and view Irish culture and history. And it's the very fact that some people are saying that these are beer-themed sneakers, that the only way to celebrate a national holiday of a country with a very rich culture and a very rich history and literature, et cetera, is to pour massive amounts of alcohol down your body. 
 
 It's how the American treat St. Patrick's Day. So we're using this story to say, look, it's the silly Americans, stupid Americans, look what they're doing again. They've got it all wrong. 
 
 SIEGEL: Which is, by the way, a default mode for journalism across the pond. 
 
 BLOCK: But still, it seems Nike did not have its smartest moment with the Black and Tan shoe. 
 
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– Nike has apologized to any Irish people offended by the nickname for a sneaker released in time for St. Patrick's Day. The "Black and Tan" shoe, released along with the "Guinness" shoe, was named after a mixed-beer drink in the US. But Nike was apparently unaware that in Ireland, the name is associated with bands of British paramilitaries that went after civilians in the '20s, the Irish Times reports. The shoe "has been unofficially named by some using a phrase that can be viewed as inappropriate and insensitive," Nike said in a statement. "We apologize. No offense was intended." (The shoe's official name is the SB Dunk Low.) Ordering a "black and tan" in an American bar would get you a half pint of stout topped with a half pint of pale ale, but in Ireland "we'd use different terms," an Irish Times reporter tells NPR. "And in fact, we wouldn't really dilute our Guinness over here. It's not really the done thing to do."