Adidas sorry for 'colossal mistake'

You had one job, adidas. Photo / Getty

Sportswear giant adidas has apologised after it misspelled the name of Colombia in football promotional images.

Social media users took to Twitter to mock the spelling of the South American country's name as "Columbia".

Users posted images apparently taken from sports store promotional material in recent days.

The marketing images, made for the Copa America tournament by the German company, feature stars such as Real Madrid's James Rodriguez.

One Twitter user wrote: "Seriously, @adidasfootball - IT'S COLOMBIA, not Columbia! Colossal mistake for such a brand. Unacceptable."

Another said: "Someone please tell @Adidas that they misspelled Colombia in their entire campaign... #ItsColombiaNotColumbia."

The blunder was also described on Twitter as an "epic mistake".

A spokeswoman for Adidas said: "We value our partnership with the Colombian Football Federation and apologise for our mistake. We removed these graphics and are quickly installing new versions."

She said the mistake only happened in the US.

Colombia's football team appears to have taken the controversy in its stride.
Colombia beat Paraguay 2-1 on Tuesday night to progress to the Copa America quarter-finals.

UNINTERRUPTED Exclusive: @BenSimmons25 announces he will be part of the @Nike family.https://t.co/l5B7Xq3uvB

— UNINTERRUPTED (@uninterrupted) June 7, 2016

It has not been a good week for the three-stripe brand, which also missed out on rising Aussie basketball star Ben Simmons.

Nike scored a major victory over their rival, signing Simmons to his rookie apparel sponsorship contract.

The former Louisiana State University star is projected to be selected with the first or second pick at the 2016 NBA Draft to be held on June 24 (AEST) in Brooklyn.

Even before he knows his NBA future, Simmons has signed a five-year deal with Nike, reportedly worth US$12 million ($A16.1m).

Simmons announced the deal in a short video message posted on Uninterrupted's Twitter account, saying Nike was the right option for him despite heavy interest from its main rival.

"I'd like to announce I've signed with Nike," Simmons said.

"I'm excited. I'm blessed. This is an amazing opportunity for me and my family, of course. A lot of hard work has gone into this. All of the support from my fans, friends and family. I wouldn't be here without them.

"A lot of work's about to be put in. I'm looking forward to this journey. It's going to be long and rough, ups and downs, but it's going to be great."