Following the election, many celebrities & brands took to social media to post their reactions. Sara Germano, New Balance’s VP of public affairs, tweeted out the following messages which set sneaker heads on fire.
New Balance: “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”
Sara Germano (@germanotes) November 9, 2016
This per NB VP public affairs. New Balance has publicly opposed TPP. https://t.co/tdKp6o8UyS
Sara Germano (@germanotes) November 9, 2016
Needless to say, a firestorm started after Germano’s comments went viral, with many sneaker heads taking to social media to post pictures and videos of them burning their shoes or throwing them in the trash. In response to this backlash, the brand issued the following statement.
“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. 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.”
According to Sole Collector:
“As noted by Sole Collector’s initial piece on New Balance’s pro-Trump comment, the brand is backing him on the topic of trade and has not made any moves suggesting it supports his presidency as a whole. New Balance’s VP of public affairs, Matt LeBretton, underlined this in a conversation with Buzzfeed on the matter.”
“The statement is correct in the context of trade, not talking about large geo-political anything, but in the context of the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement,” LeBretton said.
The Trans-Pacific Partnership is a trade deal that both New Balance and Trump oppose.
Let’s see if the sneaker burning continues.
