As protests against President-elect Donald Trump roil cities across America, people have found a corporate logo to symbolise their anger and dismay. It's emblazoned on the side of their shoes.
New Balance, the privately held Boston shoemaker, found itself in consumer cross-hairs after declaring that Trump's ascension to the White House is a move in the "right direction."
![New Balance has copped a consumer backlash over its endorsement of Donald Trump.](/web/20161113075720im_/http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/content/dam/images/g/p/t/k/w/d/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gsn8f7.png/1478839195723.jpg)
The backlash was sparked by a tweet from the Wall Street Journal's Sara Germano, who quoted a New Balance spokesperson saying President Barack Obama's administration had "turned a deaf ear" to New Balance.
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
That didn't go over well with the public. After all, more than half the electorate didn't vote for Trump.
Furious shoppers converged on New Balance's Facebook page to rail against the brand and call for boycotts.
On Twitter, they shared photos and videos of their New Balance sneakers thrown in the trash or tossed in the toilet. Some even lit their kicks on fire.
.@SoleCollector @newbalance pic.twitter.com/9AFPnw6doF
— M.A. Fortin (@SeniorTeenager) November 10, 2016
@SoleCollector @newbalance let's just pretend like they flushed 💩👟🚽 pic.twitter.com/DWjkPLTw2l
— 🐣✨ (@artsy_indy) November 10, 2016
@SoleCollector @newbalance good to know. I made a little bonfire tonight :) pic.twitter.com/yOdCTbQgac
— skreetware (@milftears) November 10, 2016
"I will not buy New Balance again ever," one outraged customer wrote. "I am finding as many people as possible to spread this news."
New Balance says it's being unfairly vilified. The company contends that it supports Trump's opposition to the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a proposed free trade deal that Obama negotiated with 12 countries on the Pacific Rim.
TPP would lower various trade barriers, both tariff and non-tariff, among member nations. Opponents of the deal warn that it serves corporate interests and would endanger US jobs. Hillary Clinton, Trump's opponent in the general election (and the winner of the popular vote by more than 200,000), also opposed the deal.
"As the only major company that still makes athletic shoes in the US, New Balance has a unique perspective on trade in that we want to make more shoes in the US, not less," the company said in a statement on Thursday.
"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 has been fighting free trade agreements for years, since it manufactures or assembles more than 4 million pairs of athletic shoes each year at its five factories in Massachusetts and Maine. The company backed punitive tariffs that make it more costly to import footwear. Across the continent, in Oregon, Nike has pushed for more free trade, since it does its manufacturing internationally.
Bloomberg
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