New Balance Faces Social Media Backlash After Welcoming Trump
November 10 2016 - 9:10PM
Dow Jones News
New Balance Athletic Inc. may be the first corporation to get
hit by backlash against President-elect Donald Trump.
The privately held sneaker company—long an opponent of the
proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement—welcomed the
election of Mr. Trump as a reprieve from the policies of President
Barack Obama.
"The Obama administration turned a deaf ear to us and frankly,
with President-elect Trump, we feel things are going to move in the
right direction," Matthew LeBretton, New Balance's vice president
of public affairs, said in an interview on Wednesday.
The comments sparked controversy on social media, with hundreds
of users posting on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram that they would
throw out their sneakers or boycott the brand. Some posted videos
setting their shoes on fire. Others uploaded photos of the shoes in
the garbage.
"I back your stance on the TPP but to support a hate monger like
Donald Trump is disheartening," wrote Instagram user
"inasentimentalmood" on the New Balance account. "I believe I've
bought my last pair." The comments were posted beneath a statement
by New Balance that the company believes "in acting with the utmost
integrity and we welcome all walks of life."
Others, meanwhile, expressed support for New Balance and its
stance against TPP. On the brand's Facebook page, user Matty Hervey
wrote: "I am not a Trump supporter, I didn't vote for him, and I
don't like him. Knowing that NB opposes the TPP is a reason to
support them and I will buy my athletic shoes from them from now
on."
The Boston-based footwear maker, which operates five factories
with about 1,400 employees in New England, has opposed the
trans-Pacific free-trade agreement for jeopardizing its domestic
manufacturing while rewarding rivals that rely more heavily on
overseas production.
"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,"
the company said in a statement Thursday. It said it continues to
support the trade positions of Mr. Trump as well as those of
Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton and Sen. Bernie
Sanders of Vermont.
Mr. Trump has been a staunch opponent to free trade agreements,
and has said he would use his first days in office to reopen the
North American Free Trade Agreement and drop consideration of TPP.
President Obama has said he hopes to pursue a long-shot bid at
bringing the 12-nation TPP agreement to a congressional vote during
his final weeks in office.
Free trade has been a contentious issue in sportswear
manufacturing. Nike Inc., the world-wide industry leader, has been
a very public proponent of TPP and hosted Mr. Obama at company
headquarters in 2015 as the president was building support for the
deal. Nike depends heavily on overseas factories, and the company
stands to benefit from proposed lowered tariffs on imports of
footwear. The Beaverton, Ore.-based company has said the passage of
TPP would ease its ability to bring 10,000 manufacturing jobs to
the U.S.
On Wednesday, Nike reiterated its support for the deal and said
in a statement that "the Obama Administration and Congressional
leadership will determine the appropriate course of action on
TPP."
Write to Sara Germano at sara.germano@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
November 10, 2016 20:55 ET (01:55 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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