New Balance under fire for getting political after Donald Trump win
While scrolling through Twitter on Thursday, users may have seen photos and videos of New Balance sneakers thrown in the trash, scattered in front of stores and in some cases set on fire.
The question is: Why?
Apparently, it was in response to a comment the company’s vice-president of public affairs made to a Wall Street Journal reporter Wednesday after Donald Trump’s election victory.
“The Obama admin turned a deaf ear to us & frankly w/ Pres-Elect Trump we feel things are going to move in the right direction,” the company said, according to a tweet by reporter Sara Germano.
Shortly after Germano’s tweet spread, some New Balance sneaker owners who disagreed with the political sentiment tweeted out photos and videos of trashing or even burning their shoes.
“You’re over. Thanks for stating who’s side you’re on,” one person tweeted to the company.
“You just lost a lot of shoe sales,” another said.
The sneaker company, headquartered in Boston, later clarified to CBS News that the quote in Germano’s tweet was only in reference to one specific issue: President-elect Trump’s stance against the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal.
“As the only major company that still makes athletic shoes in the United States, New Balance has a unique perspective on trade in that we want to make more shoes in the United States, not less,” a spokesman for New Balance told CBS News via email. “New Balance publicly supported the trade positions of Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump prior to election day that focused on American manufacturing job creation and we continue to support them today. We believe in community.”
The company also released a statement on its social media pages in response to the backlash.
— New Balance (@newbalance) November 10, 2016
“We believe in community. We believe in humanity. From the people who make our shoes to the people who wear them, we believe in acting with the utmost integrity and we welcome all walks of life,” the company tweeted.
Though some followers showed their support for the shoe company, others continued to criticize the brand, and shared videos of the shoes burning and trashed: