New Balance Support Of Donald Trump Results In Shoe Burning Backlash As Loyal Customers Walk Away
New Balance was one of the first American companies to publicly proclaim support for the President-elect, Donald Trump. The resulting backlash from opponents of Donald Trump has resulted in shoe burnings posted across social media as loyal customers walk away from the popular brand of shoes.
New Balance’s endorsement came on Wednesday morning after Trump was declared the winner of the 2016 Presidential election. Rather than listen to the reasoning behind New Balance’s support, many individuals across the Internet chose to boycott the popular shoe brand and burn their sneakers in response to the endorsement, according to Metro.
New Balance’s Vice President spoke out on the company’s support of Donald Trump, claiming hope that President-elect Trump will work toward bettering trade policies for American based companies.
“The Obama admin turned a deaf ear to us and frankly with President Elect Trump we feel things are going to move in the right direction.”
The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) is one of the main issues that New Balance hopes President-elect Donald Trump will work toward righting.
They’re burning their New Balance shoes cuz the owner is pro Trump.
But isn’t burning rubber bad 4 the environment? https://t.co/bJAOIsYqAz
— Joe Walsh (@WalshFreedom) November 11, 2016
The Trans-Pacific Partnership allows for nearly 18,000 trade tariffs to be cut out of the equation during the movement of goods between 12 countries across the world. As a result, the goods are able to be exported and imported much cheaper with fewer regulations, as compared to countries that are not a part of the partnership. Although the cheap costs are good for the consumers, many opponents of the TPP, including New Balance and Donald Trump, claim that the cheaper goods result in higher prices for American made goods due to many companies choosing the less expensive components manufactured in other countries.
As a result, many of the components that some shoe manufacturers are importing make it difficult for New Balance to remain competitive in pricing since they still manufacture all of their components in the United States. Therefore, those that have chosen to boycott New Balance have chosen to reject American made products in lieu of those composed of parts made on foreign soil.
Vietnam is an example of a major manufacturer of clothing components for the United States. They are able to produce goods at a fraction of the cost of American companies, due to the minimal wages they pay their employees and the lax labor laws. In turn, the cheap labor and imported goods takes away jobs from American workers.
New Balance’s support for Donald Trump and lack of sympathy will cost it dearly: https://t.co/4k53jDA1he pic.twitter.com/M6rvZJzj1e
— Complex (@ComplexMag) November 11, 2016
Rather than focus on the reason behind the support of President-elect Donald Trump, those in opposition of Trump have changed the focus to other reasons for rejecting New Balance, according to NBC News.
“Will throw away my NB sneakers today. Won’t buy any new shoes from a company that supports a racist, sexist demagogue that makes fun of disabled people. NB, go and trump yourself.”
Other companies that have seen similar reactions to supporting President-elect Donald Trump include Grubhub.
Matt Maloney, Grubhub’s CEO, sent an email to his employees that asked for anyone that disagrees with the company’s views to resign, after stating that he rejects the hateful banter that was spouted during the election.
“I absolutely reject the nationalist, anti-immigrant and hateful politics of Donald Trump and will work to shield our community from this movement as best as I can. I want to affirm to anyone on our team that is scared or feels personally exposed, that I and everyone else here at Grubhub will fight for your dignity and your right to make a better life for yourself and your family. If you do not agree with this statement then please reply to this email with your resignation because you have no place here.”
He later sent a message to clarify the misinterpreted message, claiming that he was attempting to let all employees understand that the company values promote ‘inclusion and tolerance’ and that anything less will not be tolerated.
Although Grubhub has not seen the backlash that New Balance has, one thing is for sure, rather than jumping to conclusions based on beliefs and bias, as Americans, researching the facts should be the guide to decision making.
https://www.playbuzz.com/inquisitr/donald-trump
[Featured Image by 360b/Shutterstock]
