New Balance is facing backlash after being the first company to publicly bow down to Adolf Trump...
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http://www.newsweek.com/new-balance-donald-trump-protest-519515
People Are Setting New Balance Shoes on Fire After Company's Apparent Pro-Trump Comments
Less than a day after the 2016 election was called for Donald Trump, New Balance publicly expressed what many have construed as support for the next president of the United States. In a statement issued to The Wall Street Journal, the Boston-based sportswear company's VP of public affairs, Matt LeBretton, said he feels like things will "move in the right direction" once Trump takes over from President Obama.
New Balance's enthusiasm lies in Trump's opposition to the Trans Pacific Partnership, which the company has long opposed. When Obama visited competitor Nike in 2015, LeBretton said it "would be great to have him come to a footwear company that actually still makes shoes in the United States." New Balance is one of the only footwear companies manufacturing in the United States, churning out 4 million pairs of shoes annually. The TPP lowers tariffs for companies that manufacture outside of the U.S., putting New Balance at a disadvantage.
In April, LeBretton criticized Obama once again, this time in a Boston Globe piece that accused the Pentagon of backing out of an agreement to outfit troops with New Balance sneakers. "We swallowed the poison pill that is TPP so we could have a chance to bid on these contracts,” he said. "We were assured this would be a top-down approach at the Department of Defense if we agreed to either support or remain neutral on TPP. [But] the chances of the Department of Defense buying shoes that are made in the U.S.A. are slim to none while Obama is president."
New Balance had been making shoes that would allow the government to comply with a 1941 amendment that prevents the Department of Defense from supplying troops with clothing, food and other goods that aren't produced in America.
It's not surprising that LeBretton supports a president-elect who opposes the TPP, but expressing this support publicly a day after the election may not have been a wise move. In the hours after his comments were released, anti-Trump New Balance owners were not shy about expressing how they felt.
You get the idea.
Backlash in full force, New Balance clarified its position to Sole Collector, whose tweet became the home for fire- and garbage-can-themed protest videos. "As the only major company that still makes athletic shoes in the United States, New Balance has a unique perspective on trade and trade policy in that we want to make more shoes in the United States, not less," it said. "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."
New Balance also confirmed to BuzzFeed that its comments "were in the context of trade."
There is nothing wrong with New Balance opposing TPP, of course, but given how contentious this election was and how eager half of the country is to express its frustration with the results, LeBretton can't be surprised that a few torches are being taken to his company's products.
Comments
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Never did liked nor wore their shoes anyway
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Eh a business looking out for their interests
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Look at those pics. Lol them kicks are nicely placed on the garbage cans. Bet they still bout to rock them out. Just wanted a bunch of likes and retweets.
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*reads thread in pair of 574's*
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Let's outsource more labour
That will fix our employment woes -
Personally, Trump's opposition to NAFTA and the TPP, as well as any treaty that allows US companies to ship jobs overseas for sweatshop labor is something I approve of. The fact that New Balance still makes shoes here in this country is something these idiot ass people burning their shoes is overlooking because they dislike Trump, but this is PRECISELY what the country needs. We need those jobs to come back!
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Meh
I have no problem with what they did
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New Balances are the Timbs of the Carolinas, Florida, Most parts of Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, and Arkansas. Step outside of those regions and the only people you see wearing New Balance are old white people. I mean 80 plus old.
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who ? cares
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konceptjones wrote: »Personally, Trump's opposition to NAFTA and the TPP, as well as any treaty that allows US companies to ship jobs overseas for sweatshop labor is something I approve of. The fact that New Balance still makes shoes here in this country is something these idiot ass people burning their shoes is overlooking because they dislike Trump, but this is PRECISELY what the country needs. We need those jobs to come back!
Agreed. In the context given its fine. -
Dammit, I was thinking about a new pair the other day.
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Yea they ain't losing no money.StoneColdMikey wrote: »Eh a business looking out for their interests
This. -
They doing too much. This man is the president now, give it up! This is why Trump won. All these people who probably lied and said they're voting for somebody else but they were closeted Trump supporters. And didn't Tariq tell people not to vote? Why is he talking?
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First pair I ever owned was given to me in boot camp. Worn nothing but them ever since. The only shoe that fits me and yeah aot of their shoes say they're made ..percent in America.
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Recaptimus_Prime360 wrote: »Never did liked nor wore their shoes anyway
I never bought newBalance,always felt like they were old head sneakers. -
New Balances is Trash anyway...I'll rather ? Asics or Diadoras over them ?
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JonnyRoccIT wrote: »New Balances is Trash anyway...I'll rather ? Asics or Diadoras over them ?
More old people shoes
I pray you guys never come out west rocking those thinking y'all fresh. Y'all gon get roasted to hell. -
Turfaholic wrote: »JonnyRoccIT wrote: »New Balances is Trash anyway...I'll rather ? Asics or Diadoras over them ?
More old people shoes
I pray you guys never come out west rocking those thinking y'all fresh. Y'all gon get roasted to hell.
The main reason people buy NB isn't for style, it's because they make an excellent running shoe. That translates into comfort if you're just using them for walking which is why old folks wear them so much. I've always raced in Avia, but my trainers were a mix of NB, Avia, and occasionally Reebok. I'm about to go back to running again hard as ? in the next month or so, and I'm about to cop a pair of both NB and Avia for it. -
Lol how can you face backlash for supporting the next POTUS? Where they do that at?
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NB is very comfortable
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This is an overreaction.
Doesn't the mean it's not hilarious at the same time.