Yeti

An overpriced Woke Cooler company that picked a fight with their customers (hunters/outdoorsman).

An overpriced Woke Cooler company whose CEO picked a fight with their customers at the worst time, and in the worst way. After Dick's pissed off a bunch of people, Yeti came behind them and decided to go anti-NRA (the largest gun owner organization in the nation). Hunters/outdoorsman were blowing up their coolers and buying competitors in protest.

ℹ️ Info

~ Aristotle Sabouni
Created: 2018-05-07

YETI Coolers[edit source]

Main article: YETI Coolers

In the wake of Stoneman Douglas High School shooting, YETI Coolers cut off ties to the NRA Foundation (the shooting sports division), but wouldn't say why (coincidentally timed with Delta and REI dropping the NRA).
The NRA's open letter lead to a backlash amongst shooting enthusiasts, many shooting their coolers for YouTube, and YETI's competitors stepping up their 2A support.
WaPo and Snopes "FakeChecked" by taking YETI's damage-control effort claim that they were just ending an old promotional program, and didn't wait for NRA's reply to that. (Uninterested in getting to the bottom of things). Wikipedia eventually copied that, and then didn't offer any of the counter-factuals.
The problems are, the Yeti "promotion" didn't seem to impact anyone else, they wouldn't fulfill outstanding orders, and doesn't explain the coincidental timing with Delta and REI, or lack lack of communications/apology or remedy. If it was a mistake, YETI could have apologized for the miscommunication and bad timing, and re-instated a new program, or worked with the NRA to rectify it. None of that happened.
The NRA's reply to that sounded a lot like: {cough:bullshit!}.
The NRA also later explained that customers should not waste money by shooting or blowing up coolers -- just put an NRA sticker over the logo and keep using them.

Yeti's Reply[edit | edit source]

A few weeks ago, YETI notified the NRA Foundation, as well as a number of other organizations, that we were eliminating a group of outdated discounting programs. 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. These facts directly contradict the inaccurate statement the NRA-ILA distributed on April 20. Further, the NRA-ILA stated in that same public communication that "YETI has declined to continue helping America's voung people enjoy outdoor recreational activities." Nothing is further from the truth. YETI was founded more than 10 years ago with a passion for the outdoors, and over the course of our history we have actively and enthusiastically supported hunters, anglers and the broader outdoor community. We have been devoted to and will continue to directly support causes tied to our passion for the outdoors, including by working with many organizations that promote conservation and management of wildlife resources and habitat restoration. From our website to our film footage and from our social media posts to our ambassadors, YETI has alwavs prominently featured hunters pursuing their passions. Moreover, YETI is unwavering in our belief in and commitment to the Constitution of the United States and its Second Amendment.

NRAs Reply to Yeti's Reply[edit | edit source]

YETI severed ties with the NRA and is now engaging in damage control after a backlash from many of its customers. In early March, YETI refused to place a previously negotiated order from NRA-ILA, citing ‘recent events’ as the reason – a clear reference to the tragedy in Parkland, Florida. YETI then delivered notice to the NRA Foundation that it was terminating a 7-year agreement and demanded that the NRA remove the YETI name and logo from all NRA digital assets, as well as refrain from using any YETI trademarks in future print material. YETI is trying to spin the story otherwise, those are the facts. While Yeti can change their story, but they can’t change the facts. Whether their changing story is due to the recent cancellation of the IPO from their New York City owners is a question only, they can answer. ~ Marion P. Hammer.

🖼️ Memes

Memes/Organizations/Yeti • [6 items]

Dick's: "No one can lose business faster than us."

Yeti: "Hold my tumbler."

YETI reply to NRA fiasco.

Yeti doesn't support defending the constitution #badchoiceyeti

Before you make fun of children for believing in santa claus, remember there are adults who think coolers are worth $300

I Think Yeti forgot the Sportsmen that support them by dropping the NRA and taking a stand against our 2 Amendment Rights.

Boycott yeti? I've been doing that since I saw their prices.

🗒️ Note:
I don't care that a company chooses to break with another company or that it hurts their image: I'm cool with that. But how and why matter. Doing it after a public event (like a School shooting) and trying to profit off the death of kids, by leveraging public hate against a civil rights organization (like the NRA), is deserving of some backlash. Lying about it afterwards, doesn't help.

Conclusion[edit | edit source]

I'm not sure if the customer backlash hurt Yeti, or how much. They seemed to have been able to grow through it.

We can argue that they might have grown more if they hadn't of stuck their foot in their mouth. We can also argue that it was just a mistake (on both sides) that blew over. To me, YETI is the over priced fad coolers for yuppies & posers, so I imagine their tattooed and gauged ears trendies are likely to just root them on if it was sincere. They probably burned for more potential customers than they gained, but we will never know.

🔗 More

Organizations
Organizations that I felt the need to comment on (more often on the negs than the positives). But there's good/bad in all.

Pick your battles
If you keep alienating your customers, maybe they'll go away?

🔗 Links

Competitors

Tags: Organizations Pick your battles