On Tuesday, Americans went to the voting booths to pick a president. The votes were counted late into the night and confirmed through victory and concession speeches by the next morning; next year will see President Donald Trump. For more than half the Americans who voted, the result of the Electoral College math was shocking. And for some of those, it was enraging.

This means a lot of forthcoming changes in policies, including judgment on the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a trade agreement that very few Americans have even seen and that the U.S. has not formally agreed to yet. President Obama publicly lobbied for the TPP, while Hillary Clinton, Donald Trump, and Bernie Sanders all campaigned against it.

The TPP has provisions in it that would include additional taxes and tariff cuts that some say would make it harder to manufacture sneakers in the United States, like what Nike and Adidas are starting to do and New Balance has been doing for decades.

On Twitter, Wall Street Journal reporter Sara Germano quoted Matt LeBretton, New Balance's Vice President of Public Affairs:

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"The Obama administration turned a deaf ear to us and frankly with President-Elect Trump we feel things are going to move in the right direction." The response to this quote, whcih LeBretton says was taken out of context, was swift and severe. Sneakerheads everywhere began tweeting that they would no longer support the brand, and many included photographs of them throwing away their footwear–or burning it.

In a conversation with Buzzfeed, LeBretton attempted to clarify the context of his quote. "The statement is correct in the context of trade, not talking about large geo-political anything, but in the context of the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement," he said. To those making it about more than just trade: "It's inaccurate. Everything I've said is in the context of trade." LeBretton also told Buzzfeed that New Balance doesn't want to get involved in the politics of presidential elections.

"My statements aren't political, this is policy related solely to TPP. I've spoken on the record to The Boston Globe and other sources about our opposition to Obama's footwear tax and the TPP."

Unfortunately for New Balance, it jumped into our current political quagmire with both feet.

We reached out to New Balance for further clarification on these statements, and the company provided another statement. You can see it in full below, but the gist of it is that New Balance is the only major company that still makes athletic shoes in the U.S. and that "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. We believe in community. We believe in humanity."

The problem is this statement has a very short shelf life. Next year Adidas is opening a factory in Georgia, and Nike has committed to bringing 10,000 manufacturing and engineering jobs to the U.S. if the TPP is passed. New Balance's "Made in the USA" program has been a huge selling point for years, but it is no longer something the company can rest on. Its competitors are coming for it.

Additionally, it's confusing to hear from a brand that it believes in community and humanity, but judges the most powerful politician in the world based purely on the economics of footwear, ignoring the rest of what the country has debated.

That's not how this works. That's not how any of this works.

Unfortunately for New Balance, it jumped into our current political quagmire with both feet.

New Balance has a relatively robust corporate responsibility program that it details in its own materials, and the statement issued today reads, in part, "New Balance and our thousands of employees around the world constantly strive to better our local communities. We always have and we always will." But many Americans who buy and wear New Balance sneakers have been remarkably left out of the policies proposed by President-Elect Donald Trump.

New Balance went out of its way to tell us it agrees with Trump on at least one issue. Its customers are waiting to hear which other policies and issues the company will be supporting in the next four years and how that support will ripple out into a different culture and a different America.

Considering New Balance is about to lose the distinction of being the only major sneaker company manufacturing in the U.S., this is a very bad time to redefine its identity with sloppy political statements.


New Balance's Statement to Esquire:

As the only major company that still makes athletic shoes in the United States, New Balance has a unique perspective on trade in that we want to make more shoes in the United States, not less. 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. We believe in community. We believe in humanity. From the people who make our shoes to the people who wear them, we believe in acting with the utmost integrity and we welcome all walks of life. Since 1906, we have carved our own path in being passionately committed to making things at our five factories in New England, even when nobody else did. New Balance and our thousands of employees around the world constantly strive to better our local communities. We always have and we always will.

From: Esquire US