New Balance is on the receiving end of consumer spitfire after the company’s VP of public relations expressed to Wall Street Journal reporter Sara Germano that the sneaker brand feels “things are going to move in the right direction” with President-elect Donald Trump.
According to Germano, New Balance also stated that the Obama administration “turned a deaf ear to us.”
Many consumers jumped to condemn the brand for its affiliation with Trump; however, New Balance asserted that its comments were specifically in regards to Trump’s political opposition to the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP). New Balance sees the TPP as potentially damaging economically, due to the company’s reliance on domestic manufacturing for its footwear products.
The TPP is an international trade agreement amongst 12 Pacific Rim countries and aims to enhance economic collaboration between those nations, whether by cutting tariffs or fostering trade partnerships. President Barack Obama has been a large supporter of the pact, but democratic running candidate Bernie Sanders was, like Trump, heavily opposed to passing the TPP.
However, the statement could not have come at a worse time, being so close to the highly-charged election results. NB consumers took to social media in protest, posting videos and photos of New Balance shoes being burned or thrown in the garbage.
Others are tweeting, “Sorry @newbalance your values do not represent the values of my family. I will *never* buy your products.” And “I love those shoes. They work. But @newbalance just lost a lifelong fan.”
In the wake of the response, New Balance issued the below release on its Twitter account on November 10 that, although it doesn’t explicitly address the controversy, expresses its belief in “community” and “humanity.”
Photo courtesy New Balance
