MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (AP) — Mountaintop removal mining activists are demanding Nike pull its promotional ad for a new West Virginia University football uniform because it features a strip mine.
The gear was designed in tribute to 29 men killed in the Upper Big Branch mine explosion. But activists including Bo Webb point out the mine was an underground operation.
They say the ad suggests WVU and Nike endorse the controversial form of strip mining, and Webb wants apologies to the people harmed by such mines.
A WVU spokesman did not have an immediate response. Oregon-based Nike did not immediately respond to messages Thursday.
