I’ll be the first to admit that after reading Marion Hammer’s memo regarding YETI Coolers last weekend, I was concerned with how this information was being shared with NRA members.
The email, also published on the NRA-ILA website, stated (in part):
“For years YETI Coolers have been a hot item for sportsmen at the Friends of NRA Foundation Banquet and Auction events around the country.
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.”
The situation quickly turned into a he-said-she-said situation with YETI ambassadors jumping to their defense and NRA supporters figuratively and literally blowing them up. YETI’s statement in response to the swift backlash essentially called Hammer and the NRA liars while declaring their commitment to the Second, prompting Hammer to promptly fire back in a statement to IJR:
“After three days Yeti issues a statement claiming they didn’t really drop the NRA Foundation. They claim they simply eliminated the entire program affecting NRA Foundation and other unnamed organizations.
Isn’t that like eliminating like a job position so you can get rid of an employee?”
YETI failed to respond any further to repeated requests for comment, leaving their fans and NRA members questioning what really happened.
Hammer finally let the cat out of the bag, solidly setting the record straight:
“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,” Marion Hammer said.
“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.”
The fact is, despite their claim of being committed to the Constitution, YETI contacted the most influential organization defending Americans’ Second Amendment in the immediate aftermath of the Parkland shooting. Using the phrase ‘due to recent events’ in an email sharing their decision to discontinue their vendor program with the Foundation, they demanded that NRA ‘remove all (YETI) graphics and IP from your websites’ immediately.
In a classy turn of events, the NRA is encouraging its members not to blow up their YETI products, but to put them to good use instead:
Don’t blow up your Yeti cooler. Don’t shoot your Yeti cooler full of holes. Don’t chain your Yeti cooler to the back of your pick-up truck and drag it down the highway. Don’t glue a toilet seat to Yeti cooler. Don’t hang your Yeti cooler in a tree and beat it with a baseball bat.
Put a big “I STAND WITH THE NRA FOUNDATION” sticker on your YETI cooler and keep using it. They cost too much money to destroy to make a statement. Let a sticker make your statement.
Now that we know the truth about YETI and their decision to disconnect from the NRA, it probably shouldn’t be shocking to find YETI featured prominently in every corner of your local Dicks Sporting Goods store.
A match made in gun control heaven?
Companies big and small who truly support the Second Amendment should take a page from retailers such as Ozark Sportsman Supply, who announced their decision to rid their stores of YETI products based on their decision to cut ties with the NRA.
The company, who made the announcement via Facebook, said it “will no longer support or sell Yeti company and their products.”
“We can not in good conscience support a company that takes a stand against the rights of all Americans as Yeti has by pulling sponsorship from the NRA,” Ozark said in the statement. “By pulling their support from groups that fight for our rights Yeti has proven to be on the opposite side of the street from the conservative Majority at a crucial time in our country’s history.”
But Ozark isn’t just pulling YETI products from their shelves, they’re making a statement with what they’re doing with them: taking the merchandise at a loss.
“We won’t put them on the streets at all. It’s a loss we will take in a show of Support for the NRA and their endeavors.”
With so many local stores to shop in and many other cooler companies using the opportunity to not only sell merchandise but to support the NRA, I think it’s safe to say YETI and Dick’s will soon drop off into a (further) oblivion. And good riddance to them, too.
Final hours: Buy any Pelican Elite Cooler and get a free Pelican Tumbler AND we will donate $10 to the NRA. Hurry, this offer ends Monday at midnight! Promo code: PELICANPROUD – be sure to add the tumbler to your cart. https://t.co/cWoj2OCnpL | #PelicanProud pic.twitter.com/DLPx6iKD8w
— Pelican Coolers (@pelicancoolers) April 30, 2018
The NRA should start their own bank to ensure that in the future credit cards can still be used to purchase guns and ammo.
They would need to start a credit card processor as well.
I would happily bank with the NRA. My only concern is what it would do to the nonprofit status of affiliated agencies like the NRAILA? I can also see people like bloomburg, aka those who can finance a bank out of pocket change, making targeted finacial attacks on the bank to drive it under. Maybe a credit union instead of a bank, just random thoughts
You do realize the NRA is nearly bankrupt despite record revenues in recent years, largely due to various forms of financial mismanagement including excessive executive salaries? There is no ‘rainy day fund’ despite eight straight years of monsoon cash, let alone “endowment members.” Not the kind of group I’d want to bank with.
Just curious, but how do you know this?
probably from here:
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/nra-donors-respond-to-imminent-threat-but-long-term-finances-are-shaky-2018-03-29
There are quite a few facts, but beware of the liberal spin. As an example, just compare the author’s positive tone in this article about the NYT:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/francinemckenna/2014/10/28/time-is-running-short-for-the-new-york-times/#3d5032b11268
with her negative tone about the NRA in the first item.
herein lies the beauty of cryptocurrency
^ This.
Cryptocurrency may seem like a foreign and scary entity to many here, but it is exactly what we need.
If gun and ammo retailers recognized a specific cryptocurrency that we can convert our $$ into, for online purchases, we can bypass banks, monitoring and other nefarious agencies. If Brownells, Midway and a few other major players got behind this, we could kiss online firearm credit card purchases goodbye and screw the big banks. All we will sacrifice is a few thousand reward miles a year.
Starting a bank is hard.
Buying a small Utah bank and then re-purposing it is much easier.
Where the F is JWTaylors reply on this???
Still waiting on that one myself.
Where is that quote coming from.
“citing ‘recent events’ as the reason”
Where is the email Yeti sent to the NRA?
I see no reference to it in the NRA website.
Never mind found the reference. But why the the NRA still burning bridges? Is this the new thing? Would make so much more sense to let everyone save face. Now the NRA has an adversary, not a partner. And I bet a lot of companies in the future are going to have second thoughts about getting involved with them.
“But why the the NRA still burning bridges? Is this the new thing? Would make so much more sense to let everyone save face.”
If someone was bald-faced lying about *me*, I’d expend extra effort to set the record straight.
So now it comes down to, who’s lying here?
The NRA is looking at a massive increase in funding, and there are probably at least two Yeti competitors itching for an NRA deal. There is no need save the face of an idiot traitorous company.
I contacted Grizzly Coolers re this. They said they are gun righters and will give you an additional 10% off if you ref this issue.
Was forced to visit a Dickless/FieldStream this evening for my daughter. About 25 high school age employees standing around looking for something to do and 5 patrons. And vast stacks of Yeti coolers.
search on dickless sporting goods on bing. 1st result is dicks.
The point is to make an example of Yeti. The hope is that NRA members boycott the company and do business with their NRA-friendly competitors, thus sending a message that one should be careful when deciding whether or not to demonize the NRA. The NRA’s power comes from its substantial membership roster, and occassionally showing that they can mobilize that membership when necessary is probably a smart play.
WTF? Why is *YETI* burning bridges? Why are the Dick’s burning bridges? When they do, they have to be shown that there is a cost, not just to them but to their shareholders. ESAD. In the future, maybe they will remember how to simply STFU.
Letting politics into your business is a death wish. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I don’t believe I’ve seen any virtue signaling from Amazon and they are reaping the rewards. Be like them and stfu if you have a business.
@gutshot
I agree. I don’t really care what a CEO’s politics or personal beliefs are if he can keep them separated from his business. If he starts tying his beliefs to his business, though, you can rest assured I’ll be tying my beliefs about his beliefs to my purchases.
Let PROGTARD politics into your business to your peril. Stay conservative (have a pair) and you will win.
“In the future, maybe they will remember how to simply STFU”
It looks like the NRA is the one releasing press releases.
“but I don’t believe I’ve seen any virtue signaling from Amazon ”
There are a lot of products Amazon does not carry for politically correct reasons.
It was Yeti that burned that bridge, not the NRA. And they burned those bridges to NRA members and supporters all across the country as well.
The NRA isn’t burning bridges. yeti set the fire to that bridge. The NRA just didn’t let them get away with it.
Because obviously YETI coolers were effective at getting people to buy memberships and donate money.
Note that the NRA hasn’t given a single damn that SlideFire was put completely out of business by virtue of their political advocacy (not even to claim victory, which is odd for a group that has hardly any)
I admit I’m not a big high-end cooler guy but damn Yeti looks like retarded idiots. Recent events is the giveaway phrase…
yep, its one of those “i got it because its expensive” items. like a Range Rover for city folks. anytime someone does that shit to me i make damn sure they know i couldn’t give a fuck less. had a boss showing off his iphone watch one time, all he got from me was “ok”, another time same guy, “look at our pool we are building, thats gonna be a rock waterfall, thats were the yeti cooler will be, blah blah” my response “ok”.
you showed him.
I have a Yeti cooler and it works great. When I bought it there was not a good competitor. Now there are several. I will never buy another Yeti product. I will keep using mine but all new purchases will be competitors.
“Only the dead have seen the end of the cooler wars.”
Let “cooler heads” . . .
. . . draw maggots.
Only the dead belong inside the cooler.
“Only the dead belong inside the cooler.”
Oh, no!
Live Florida lobsters, plucked fresh from the ‘Coffin Patch’ in the middle Florida keys most certainly belong in coolers!
You want ’em *live* for when you drop ’em in the *boiling* water…
Wow, just f’ing wow.
Proof of what the NRA really stands up for. They moved like lightning against YETI (probably pulled a hamstring they moved so fast), but it was a millennium of time slower than the NRA moved against bump stocks.
F em all.
Moved like lightning?
YETI supposedly refused to ship an order in early March, sending a ‘fuck you, you’re unpopular now’ message instead.
Hammer’s ‘news alert’ is dated April 20.
The NRA’s problem in a nutshell…Joe R. nailed it.
Slide Fire probably wasn’t writing as big of checks.
Why in the hell do you think the NRA wants to have to explain to Congresscritters why a “semi-auto” gun can fire just as fast as a “machine gun”. The NRA will NEVER push for the Hughes Amendment to be overturned so they are not going to support the Silde Fire. Because that is the one fight that can kill NRA. Let the SAF and GOA fight that one, it not like they are getting anywhere on that.
No mater where you stand on bump stocks, it is a FACT that if they are set up right, they will reliably dump a 100 round magazine in under 8 seconds. And they can be used with a bi-pod which permits holding the fire on individual and sized targets at 250 yards.
You are right about the NRA! The will not support the repeal of the Hughes Amendment and they don’t want to argue for bump stocks. You are wrong about pretty much everything else in your post.
One major argument against the bump stock ban is that it is gun control by executive fiat. So, let’s assume that the SAF and GOA fight the bump stock ban in the courts and win on the basis that the ATF does not have the authority to classify bump stocks as machine guns. Now, what? We are back to where we were before. This will then go to Congress, but the NRA and the President have already stabbed several hundred-thousand gun owners, several manufacturers of bump stocks, and the SAF and GOA in the back.
Note that the ATF specifically stated in their proposed ban that other methods of bump firing would be still LEGAL:
“Alternative 3—Opportunity alternatives. Based on public comments, individuals wishing to replicate the effects of bump-stock-type devices could also use rubber bands, belt loops, or otherwise train their trigger finger to fire more rapidly. To the extent that individuals are capable of doing so, this would be their alternative to using bump-stock-type devices.”
Your argument that bump stocks “reliably dump a 100 round magazine in under 8 seconds” is therefore nonsensical. Other devices and people can do that too.
ATF band bump stocks. Ban is struck down. This process takes a few years. By this time , two things happen. 1 anybody who wants a bump stock can 3D prontone for a dollar. 2 the political will to pass a law banning them is not there because the panic and enthusiasm from the antis is gone.
The legal process I described takes a few months to a year, and not years. In fact, there will be an immediate stay of the regulation anyway, meaning the ban will not go into effect until a court has decided on it. The impact of outlawing and destroying $100,000,000 in privately-owned property of hundreds-of-thousands of gun owners will be to high to allow the regulation to go into effect now and then to repeal it a year later in court.
You can print bump stocks today, just as you can print a full-auto lower. Just because the cost of 3D printing is getting lower over time, does not mean that this changes anything. Again, a rubber band does the same thing and is even cheaper.
With Wayne LaPierre and Chris Cox heading the NRA and the NRA-ILA, the will to pass a bump stock ban is already there and won’t go away until these two clowns go away. There is also that tiny issue of President Trump supporting it, for his remaining 3 years in office and for 4 more years, right?
Do you really believe that the anti-gunners are going to give up in a few years? That’s quite naive, especially given the fact that this fight for our gun rights has been going on for decades. Every new mass shooting will be exploited by the media and by the anti-gunners.
“Why in the hell do you think the NRA wants to have to explain to Congresscritters why a “semi-auto” gun can fire just as fast as a “machine gun”. ”
WHY? WHY? WHO THE FUCK KNOWS WHY? But you know they Fing DID because they went beast-mode and just jumped out into the 4-lane traffic of firearms discourse to throw bump stocks [AN ALREADY ADJUDICATED AND DECIDED MATTER TO THE ATF&E] under the bus.
Is there a rebuttal from Yeti on that statement?
Can you request one, Mr. Taylor?
TTAG, defending the NRA to the mat, as was the plan all along.
I’ll save my final opinion until I hear a response from Yeti.
I initially took Yeti’s side in the issue, but the NRA has slapped down a serious gauntlet…
Never thought spending as much as a nice handgun or rifle on a cooler made sense. YETI isn’t even the best out there from the tests I’ve seen on Youtube. But now I have a good reason NOT to get one.
Bye, bye YETI.
I support the Second Amendment, not the NRA. Until Yeti comes out with a statement opposing my rights to gun ownership, I’m ok with them , not that my money is going to go to high end coolers rather than guns and ammo.
Don’t hold your breath @Sjay, not all of our enemies come across like ETGS. The worst ones are those who just fade into the background and quietly withdraw their support. Better to shine the light of day on them. If they want to make a change in support, that’s fine but we should be able to change our support of them as well. All this Yeti business does is give ammo to the FUDDs: See? Even Yeti doesn’t support the NRA, and they’re an outdoor company!
And Yeti has a history of exactly this type of behavior. At least, ever since they were bought out by Cortec. They did this last year:
http://www.alloutdoor.com/2017/03/27/yeti-flagship-store-bars-concealed-open-carriers-backtracks/
They don’t seem very friendly to the 2A do they? To be sure, they backpedaled quickly, with a suitable cock n bull story, when the blowback from their customer base got too strong. Kind of like a pattern, isn’t it?
So, either YETI is lying through its corporate teeth, or Marion Hammer is a lying witch…
or (C) All Of The Above
Let’s see Marion put up or shut up.
Why not post of .pdf of the alleged cease and desist letter from YETI?
Nothing in what he says proves anything. The “remove our logo” is standard practice. anything else is pure conjecture.
Yeti is owned by an NY Investment group, enough said!
Two thirds owned, actually. As I understand it, the remaining third is still owned by the founding family in Austin. Although that one third interest is probably enough to make the both families rich beyond their dreams, 2/3 is still the controlling interest. So the Seider family no longer has a say in the business. They are irrelevant. They’re just along for the ride. NYC financiers do YETI’s driving.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-yeticoolers-ipo-idUSKCN0UW2AU
BTW, this item is too old to reflect the new reality… YETI’s IPO is history. They voluntarily withdrew it from the SEC just before Parkland. They still want credit for all fees paid, so that probably means they figure on resubmitting it later. This, just like the NRA thing, had to be a decision made by Cortec Group Management Services. As the controlling interest, all major decisions are theirs. Roy and Ryan Seiders are just along for one third of the ride. Presumably 1/6 each.
“A well regulated drink, being necessary to the security of a couch potato nation, the right of the people to keep and bear coolers, shall not be infringed.”
Screw bump stocks, we want our discounts on coolers!
Not Real Activists!
It’s not as important to class this as simply anti-NRA. GOA, SAF and others are not as large or well branded. As such they don’t have companies like YETI vying for member attention. If they did, Yeti and the traitor banks would attack them as well. More importantly, it’s a issue of not supporting organizations that fight for our civil, natural and constitutional rights. That’s called bigotry and should be shunned.
I don’t own any Yeti products nor am I motivated to own any. That said, I would really like to see these communications between their company and the NRA.
Don’t be Dick’s is spot on.
I believe YETI. All Hammer has proven is that YETI is treating the NRA just like any other customer. She’s just mad that they’re not getting any more free goodies.
READ the story Barry
My store sold a crap ton of coolers this weekend.
None of them were Yetis.
Time for them and dicks to be tossed on the ash heap of history.
I’ve searched the NRA-ILA website, but haven’t been able to find the email from Yeti which this article claims is published there. Can anyone help me out with a link?
As much as Dicks is an overpriced shitty store, it’s the only store in town that sells sporting goods. I suspect many markets are similar, and Dicks will have no problem alienating the 2A customer base.
Oh come on now. If the town you live in is big enough for Dick, it has to have many smaller sporting goods stores also. Higher prices, may be, but still available. And probably with helpful and knowledgeable employees, and ARs… but perhaps not YETI.
No, there are no sporting good competitors here. Small moms and pops in this segment don’t exist here, and sports authority shit the bed.
Really? No offense, but I have a tough time believing that.
I would never ask anybody to post where they live on the internet, but can you point to another place, anywhere in the US, that has a dick’s and nothing else?
Yeti & Dicks will be just fine. Most Americans aren’t members of the NRA. And this article came off as a real snowflake.
agreed completely
” 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,” – that’s standard practice. And they still terminated a program affecting way more than just NRA. ” Isn’t that like eliminating like a job position so you can get rid of an employee?” It could be, although that almost never happens that you would cut several employees just to cut one. But could be. Nothing he cited proves anything.