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CrossFit loses corporate partnerships after CEO mocks ‘racism is a public health issue’ virtue-signal | CrossFit loses corporate partnerships after CEO mocks ‘racism is a public health issue’ virtue-signal |
(about 5 hours later) | |
Athletic brand Reebok and several affiliate gyms have canceled their partnerships with fitness giant CrossFit after its CEO tweeted a mocking response to a statement calling racism a “public health issue.” | Athletic brand Reebok and several affiliate gyms have canceled their partnerships with fitness giant CrossFit after its CEO tweeted a mocking response to a statement calling racism a “public health issue.” |
CrossFit CEO Greg Glassman might have cost his company millions with just 13 characters. After he replied to a tweet from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation calling racism and discrimination “critical public health issues that demand an urgent response” by quipping “It’s FLOYD-19,” Reebok and affiliate gyms hurried to distance themselves from the popular fitness brand. | |
Reebok told Business Insider on Sunday it will not renew its contract with CrossFit after 2020, though a spokesman confirmed it would “fulfill [its] remaining contractual obligations.” The athletic brand is the title sponsor of the 2020 CrossFit Games. | Reebok told Business Insider on Sunday it will not renew its contract with CrossFit after 2020, though a spokesman confirmed it would “fulfill [its] remaining contractual obligations.” The athletic brand is the title sponsor of the 2020 CrossFit Games. |
Affiliate gyms including Petworth Fitness (formerly CrossFit Petworth) and Crossfit Magnus also announced they would drop their association. | Affiliate gyms including Petworth Fitness (formerly CrossFit Petworth) and Crossfit Magnus also announced they would drop their association. |
Some affiliate gyms had already started to sour on CrossFit, especially after Rocket CrossFit posted Glassman's email response to a complaint about its “incoherent brand identity” several days previously. “CrossFit has stayed silent for too long as our country is at a time of reckoning for centuries of systemic racism,” Rocket's Alyssa Royse lamented, noting CrossFit was “the only major brand” she could think of that had “failed to take a stand.” | Some affiliate gyms had already started to sour on CrossFit, especially after Rocket CrossFit posted Glassman's email response to a complaint about its “incoherent brand identity” several days previously. “CrossFit has stayed silent for too long as our country is at a time of reckoning for centuries of systemic racism,” Rocket's Alyssa Royse lamented, noting CrossFit was “the only major brand” she could think of that had “failed to take a stand.” |
The brand’s advertisement offering to “flatten your quarantine curves,” as well as a social media post signal-boosting someone else’s tweet in which “some guy eating a bat halfway around the world” deprived them of the joy of CrossFit, also came in for condemnation in the lengthy letter from Rocket. | |
Glassman’s FLOYD-19 tweet was heavily ratio’ed, with many commenters calling on affiliate gyms and brands to cancel their associations. | Glassman’s FLOYD-19 tweet was heavily ratio’ed, with many commenters calling on affiliate gyms and brands to cancel their associations. |
While some might argue it isn’t a gym’s job to be the social justice conscience of its customers, Glassman’s followers were largely united in attacking the comment, with some even calling for him to be fired or resign. | While some might argue it isn’t a gym’s job to be the social justice conscience of its customers, Glassman’s followers were largely united in attacking the comment, with some even calling for him to be fired or resign. |
Glassman followed up the FLOYD-19 tweet by slamming the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, pointing out that its “failed model” was responsible for the quarantine that has devastated gyms – CrossFit and otherwise – across the nation. | |
Many companies have pounced on the protests erupting across the US as an opportunity to make a token gesture to burnish their corporate virtue. Nike pledged to donate $40 million over four years to “support the black community,” while McDonald's vowed in a letter to employees to hold a town hall in order to listen to suggestions on how to “drive change beyond our Golden Arches.” Amazon shared an anti-racism essay on Instagram, though it notably avoided addressing how its facial recognition system Rekognition has been deployed by law enforcement. | |
Like this story? Share it with a friend! | Like this story? Share it with a friend! |
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