YETI coolers! Do you own one? (Photo: YETI)
I’m all for putting anti-gun companies out on front street. Especially in today’s post-Parkland climate, where we’ve been getting our teeth kicked in by the opposition.
Just remember, we went from pushing our agenda of national concealed carry reciprocity and de-regulated suppressor purchases to being victims of national bump stock confiscation and state-level purchase age restrictions in, what seems like, a drop of a hat. Trump’s first few years have been not at all what we had in mind.
Yeah, so, now more than ever the Dick’s of the world need to be outed so we can boycott their behinds. Hit ‘em where it hurts. The bottom line, the ole pocketbook, the wall-a-roo-ski — you get the idea. Because corporate elites, as much as they claim to care about cancer kids and the Constitution and endangered rhinos, really only care about one thing: the almighty dollar.
SEE ALSO: Dick’s Posts ‘Deeper than Expected’ Losses Weeks After Taking Anti-Gun Stance
Sending the message that when you ostracize gun owners you monetarily cut off your nose to spite your face is key. A lesson Dick’s is learning right now, as a matter of fact. Profits, for the sporting goods retailer, are down. Big time. Given that a boycott can really put the hurt on a business, it’s something that shouldn’t be deployed will-nilly. It should be reserved for serious offenders. Corporations that go full Libtard.
YETI Coolers is not one of those companies. Yet, based on a recent alert from NRA-ILA you’d think that they’d done the unthinkable, hired Michael Bloomberg and sired children with Shannon Watts. Here’s what Marion Hammer, who penned the alert had to say about YETI:
“Suddenly, without prior notice, YETI has declined to do business with The NRA Foundation saying they no longer wish to be an NRA vendor, and refused to say why. They will only say they will no longer sell products to The NRA Foundation. That certainly isn’t sportsmanlike. In fact, YETI should be ashamed,” wrote Hammer.
“They have declined to continue helping America’s young people enjoy outdoor recreational activities,” she continued. “These activities enable them to appreciate America and enjoy our natural resources with wholesome and healthy outdoor recreational and educational programs.”
“Suddenly, without prior notice…” you don’t say? Really? YETI just dumped you like a dork on prom night? I’d have sympathy for the NRA if they didn’t pull a similar move just last year. Remember how they disinvited USCCA — the industry leader in concealed carry insurance — from the annual meetings and exhibits weeks out from the show? That left Tim Schmidt, the Founder and President of USCCA, reeling.
NRA said, and I quote, “It was a business decision.” Like a champ, Schmidt took the high road — even though tremendous time, money and resources were invested into getting the USCCA team to Atlanta for the event. “Whether or not the NRA supports us, we will continue to support them,” Schmidt said, adding, “We will continue to believe in their mission…”
SEE ALSO: NRA Disinvites USCCA from Annual Meetings and Exhibits
Class act right there. He could’ve blasted the NRA from now till kingdom come. And rightfully so. The invite was accepted. Yet, the NRA reneged on that agreement. But as noted, Schmidt did not slam the nation’s gun lobby. Something to keep in mind because I would argue that YETI also made a business decision. One that didn’t leave the NRA out in the cold (like NRA did to USCCA).
“When we notified the NRA Foundation and the other organizations of this change, YETI explained that we were offering them an alternative customization program broadly available to consumers and organizations, including the NRA Foundation,” said YETI in a recent statement.
“These facts directly contradict the inaccurate statement the NRA-ILA distributed on April 20 2018,” continued YETI.
The cooler maker went on to say that it supports youngsters enjoying the outdoors and that it is “unwavering in our belief in and commitment to the Constitution of the United States and its Second Amendment.”
What this boils down to is money. NRA isn’t going to benefit as much as it once did from its arrangement with YETI. Instead of taking the high road (like USCCA) or taking the new deal, NRA put the company on blast insinuating that YETI isn’t pro-2A or pro-adventurous kids in an effort to strong-arm them into going back to the old agreement. At least that’s what it looks like.
NRA included YETI’s corporate contact info in the alert along with this thinly-veiled call to action, “In this day and age, information is power. We thought you needed this information.”
NRA wanted you, its members, to flood YETI’s corporate offices with complaints so they’d cave to the pressure and pony up. YETI didn’t. It responded instead with a clenched fist of truth.
Let me be clear. I’m not a fan of YETI coolers. They’re bulky, heavy and way too expensive. The only YETI product I own is a small rambler (cup) that I never use because I can’t put it in the dishwasher (I’m too lazy to hand-wash). What a waste of $20! Anyways, my point is that I’m not coming to YETI’s defense because I’m a fanboy. I’m not. As far as I know, they have not done anything to hurt gun owners or the 2A. They didn’t deserve this little jab by the NRA. Not at all.
Oh, and let me also state for the record that I support the NRA. I criticize them because I care. Why put the spotlight on a friend when there are so many foes who need a reckonin’? Just sayin’.
UPDATE: NRA released another statement on the YETI saga:
The NRA Foundation has over 1,100 “Friends of NRA Committees” around the country. These committees host banquets and auctions that are attended by hundreds of thousands of guests each year. These events raise funds to support charitable causes and programs. The NRA Foundation supports the needs of youth programs for education, safety and training, as well as law enforcement needs, shooting ranges and conservation programs.
For many years we have purchased coolers from YETI for our auctions. We have auctioned off many thousands of YETI coolers each year. YETI recently dropped The NRA Foundation as a client. Not only would they not take our orders for more coolers, they forced us to cancel orders already in the system that they said they would not fill.
Three days after we notified you of YETI’s decision to drop The NRA Foundation, YETI issued their prepared statement in which they admit they dropped us but claim they simply eliminated the discount program and dropped other (unnamed) organizations as well. That’s news to us.
Perhaps the people writing YETI’s damage control statements are not talking to the people who enforced YETI’s decisions and refused our orders. We had even offered the YETI Roadie in one of our sponsorship levels for 2018 – which we’ve had to cancel.
We told you the truth.
YETI’s attempts at damage control is to say our statement is not accurate. Shame on you again YETI. You know you made a mistake. A big one. Now you must live with your mistake.
***
Update 4/25/18
The plot thickens! NRA’s most recent statement, posted above, delivers quite a counterpunch to YETI. Is it true that YETI reneged on NRA, refusing to fulfill orders that had been placed? If so, then the company DID leave NRA out in the cold, which is not cool. Not cool at all.
Yet, I still don’t see enough here to blacklist YETI. Maybe the Austin-based company did a crappy thing to NRA at a moment’s notice but I wouldn’t put that offense on par with what BoA and Dick’s and Citigroup did. Which was take a public stand against our right to keep and bear black rifles.
YETI said its support for the 2A is “unwavering.” Hard evidence that that is not the case remains to be seen. Terminating a business partnership with the NRA isn’t the same as stating we need to ban ARs or adults 18-20 shouldn’t be allowed to purchase firearms or enacting policies to defund certain gun makers. It’s not fair to conflate the two. To draw a crude analogy, one is movie night with Aziz Ansari; the other is a date with Bill Cosby.
Stay tuned, I’m sure this spat is just getting started.
F*CK Yeti and the Idiot that wrote this unreserved Fairy Tail!
Uh, it’s “willY-nilly btw. I also have an OVER-priced YETI cooler. And I absolutely agree with the boycott. WHICH does a “better job” and serves a “greater purpose”? That would be the NRA…hands down. Yeah they certainly have their issues, we all know that. The way I see it, YETI jumped ship and sold-out the 2A AND gun owners. There’s NO way anyone can look at this and say YETI “supports” the 2 Amendment, no way. YOU have it wrong…
I agree with the boycott of Yeti for more reasons than one. Not only did they drop the NRA, when the Gun Owners of California asked to purchase some coolers for an upcoming dinner that occurred in April of this year the Yeti representative told us that they were not going to do business with groups like us. We have asked for this in writing several times and Yeti has refused our request.
I never saw a reason to purchase such an expensive product. I get 40 (+/- a percentage point or 3) times more contents (soda, beer, brats, hot dogs, ketchup, etc.) by using the same cooler I’ve owned for over 20 years. It keeps stuff cold, just add ice. I thought the Yeti’s were pretty cool (pun intended), just can’t see spending all that money on what amounts to a luxury, unnecessary purchase. For the record, I won’t be getting one of the Cordova coolers either. They’re way cool (yup, intended) but they’re just too expensive.
Dingleberry, if you aren’t going to do your DUE DILIGENCE and then present ALL THE FACTS, IN DETAIL… PORK YOU, PAL…
Any questions…?
Just buy the Walmart brand. It’s plenty good enough . Let Levi jeans and yeti and now nascar go the liberal snowflake route. As for me and my family we will support the 2nd amendment.
I see a lot of supposedly pro 2 a internet bloggers are very quick to side with yeti !
Are you sponsored by them in some way?
Because it’s looking more and more like the ” progun” bloggers are in fact left leaning fudds at best or sleeper agents at worst!
Quick to defend Daniel defense , yeti, Springfield, the only real condemnation was for x products and only because malarkey repeated the same everytown b’s enough he could not be defended !!!
Did you really go and publish this crap. Please tell me you are not one of those RINO’s . Unless your company is now accepting money from Bloomberg and Soros. You have to be a Doo-doo Bird to do something like this. I would call you a few names but it may not get posted………………………………………… Help us… please don’t make it worst for us.
So, YETI makes their “unbiased business decision” right after the Parkland shooting incident but claims no politics or external pressures were involved…sure, and I’ve got a bridge for sale too
Here…here. Not just that but this nincompoop goes and publishes a dumb story like this. They must be getting paid off by either Bloomberg, Soros or Yeti themselves.
YETI deserves it all and more. You don’t seem to understand the magnitude of what we are fighting against right now. This is NOT the time for sniping at the NRA and it makes me unlikely to do business with your auction that you post this garbage. I’ll be sure to share this info to my social media followers.
After almost 3 decades with the NRA, I’m done! LaPierre and Cox run it like their own personal piggybank and don’t push for our 2A rights. I also thought with Trump and a “pro-gun” Congress we would see some pro 2A legislation. Instead they do nothing but compromise and even help surrender our rights. The NRA needs new leadership, until then, not one more dime from me.
Yeti deserves everything for dropping the NRA Boycott them!
There may be more to the story – http://floridapolitics.com/archives/262052-yeti-spin-doesnt-sit-well-with-nras-marion-hammer
Somehow Yeti has made the brand a “must have.” I agree, astronomically over priced.
I agree with you yet again, Sepp W. I never needed a cooler – any cooler – that bad. There are some instances where I can imagine needing that heavy and bulky of a cooler, ignoring the astronomical cost for a moment, but none of these instances are things that I do. Maybe it is the part of the country I live in, but most of those I can imagine needing these coolers are pipeliners and oilmen who can live out of their coolers for several days at a time. Maybe the fact that I am not a drinker of alcohol and don’t have to worry about keeping my beer cold reduces the need for a cooler. I can see a need for such a cooler while fishing in the kinds of lakes (or even on the high seas) that are hundreds of miles away from my high desert home.
I don’t know what kind of voodoo they did to the brand name but Yeti has become serious redneck bling. Kind of like Bushmaster in a lot of ways.