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Just two days after Donald Trump was elected president of the United States, people shared videos and pictures of themselves setting their New Balance sneakers on fire and throwing them in the trash to protest the company's statement in support of the new White House resident.
The action was sparked after Wall Street Journal reporter Sara Germano tweeted a quote from New Balance vice president of public affairs Matt LeBretton Wednesday where he said, "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."
Twitter user Brandon responded in a tweet accompanied by photos of shoes in a trash bin,“@newbalance here's to moving in the right direction. Never again will I or any of my family ever buy #newbalance.”
The news came as large protests have taken place across the U.S. against the real estate billionaire with the main slogan being, “Not my president!”
After the backlash, the company issued a statement saying the comment was meant in support of Trump’s specific policy of rejecting the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement and not in support of his racism and bigotry.
New Balance wants “to make more shoes in the United States, not less,” global PR manager Mary Lawton told the Huffington Post in a statement. “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.”
But people were not convinced despite the unapologetic endorsement of Trump in response to the backlash.
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