A lot of people in this country have strong feelings about the recent NFL national anthem protests, during which NFL players, coaches, team owners, and others kneeled during the singing of the U.S. National Anthem before games.
It seems, however, that Bud Light manufacturer, Anheuser-Busch, does not. According to an email written by Anheuser-Busch senior director of marketing communications, Matt Kohan, to USA Today, “We have many long-term sports partnerships, including our NFL sponsorship, and while we may not agree on everything, we still believe in the power of sport to bring people together and overcome their differences. We have no plans to end our NFL sponsorship.”
Anheuser-Busch, a distinctly American company, is happy to just sit on the sidelines and take no position on this highly charged matter?
Unlike Anheuser-Busch, the much smaller, but apparently more conscientious Bud Light Lafayette, La., distributor, Schilling Distributing Company, has pulled all Bud Light point-of-sale materials which feature the NFL and New Orleans Saints, a direct reaction to last weekend’s national anthem protests.
According to a press release posted by Schilling Distributing Company, “With all the negative attention the NFL is receiving right now due to these protests, we do not feel it is appropriate to associate our brand with them in the marketplace at this time… These sponsorship deals are made at a national level, and while Bud Light has been an official partner of the NFL and New Orleans Saints for years, there is no need for us to ask our retailer partners to promote such controversial organizations to help sell product.” Good for Schilling for taking a stand and actually believing in something beyond money!
And what do other NFL sponsors think? Is their behavior any different than fence-sitting Anheuser-Busch. An article on USA Today noted that, “Despite the widespread protests that occurred last weekend during the playing of the national anthem at NFL games, most league sponsors are remaining silent on the issue.”
The Fox Business website explains that, amazingly, “NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and the vast majority of the league’s 32 owners issued statements in solidarity with players and condemned Trump for engaging in divisive rhetoric.”
These organizations, the NFL included, that spend millions of dollars to convince us, through their ads, social media sites, and other mediums, that they think the way we do are now showing that they are not. The disingenuous management of these companies seem to only be interested in making as much money from as many people as possible, no matter who those people are or what they think.
Good for small companies, like Schilling Distribution, for standing for something more than money. For standing for their ideals and their country and the customers who support them.