Nike ad featuring woman with hairy armpits branded 'disgusting'

Nike Women has sparked an armpit hair row thanks to its latest social media post.

The sports brand shared the controversial image yesterday, captioning the image “Big mood @annahstasia”.

It features Annahstasia Enuke, a Nigerian-American musician from LA, California, who models a simple black and white sports bra – while flaunting the tiniest bit of armpit hair.

Although the post has garnered some 170,000 likes (and counting), there has been outcry in the comments section overe Nike’s choice to feature a model with armpit hair.

One person wrote: “Girl take that money Nike just gave you and go get yourself waxed.”

READ MORE: Celebrities who have embraced their armpit hair

Another Instagram user said, “This is disgusting,” while someone else wrote: “Keep your hairy bush in the Stone Ages”.

However, there was nevertheless a substantial amount of support for the campaign, with one person writing: “Body hair is natural, everyone has it.”

Other positive comments included: “This photo is beautiful on so many levels”, “Her pits, her decisions,” and “@nikewomen thank you for more natural beauty.”

One user even gushed: “This is the greatest thing I have ever seen. Such a blessing that is was the first thing in my ig [Instagram] feed this morning!!! Love how Nike is embracing natural body hair.”

READ MORE: These women will make you want to grow your armpit hair

While Annahstasia hasn’t weighed in on the backlash herself, earlier this month she posted an image of herself proudly sporting her underarm fuzz in another Nike bra.

Yahoo UK have contacted Nike Women for comment.

Armpit hair has proved a somewhat contentious issue this year.

Earlier this year, women around the country vowed to grow their body hair out to mark Januhairy – a movement which ‘Good Morning Britain’ host Piers Morgan called “revolting”.