Column: This is how it works: When trust burns - Sport - Tagesspiegel Facebook

These were Steve Jobs' trademarks. Issey Miyake black turtleneck, 501 Levi's and his gray 991 New Balance sneakers. No hipster in Berlin can do without these sneakers. Otherwise the beard would be off. Many show stars in America wear them, as does Jürgen Klopp and his Liverpool FC. Hardly any other shoe brand has become so popular in recent years. A few years ago, the brand was actually on the ground. They were found in the rummage table of large discounters. Today, New Balance have arrived in the highly competitive running market.

New Balance recently extended the contract with triathlete Sebastian Kienle. A success-story. A brand that many like. Which was so successful because an important pillar of brand work could be established, perhaps the most important of all: people identified with New Balance. More trust is not possible. And that trust was shattered by New Balance PR director Matt LeBretton in a single sentence: "We've fallen on deaf ears with the Obama administration, and quite frankly, we believe things are going in the right direction with incoming President Trump." ."

New Balance lies to customers

LeBretton pandered to Trump in the worst possible way right after Trump's election. This led to a kind of shitstorm among New Balance fans. To show their frustration, they set their sneakers on fire and shared the videos and pictures on social media. Press colleagues reported about it worldwide. LeBretton's motivation seemed simple enough at first. New Balance never agreed to the Trans-Pacific Free Trade Agreement negotiated by Obama. This made it difficult for New Balance to produce in the USA because it was too expensive. And allegedly, in contrast to manufacturers such as Nike or Asics, they would produce largely in the USA. What has not been reported so far is the fact that this is simply a lie. New Balance has been producing mainly in Asia for a long time, for example in China or Vietnam.

Although New Balance has been repeatedly asked for more transparency by the Clean Clothes Campaign (CCK) - CCK is committed to fair working conditions in the clothing industry - the company is not reacting sufficiently. New Balance has a code of conduct for its manufacturing. In CCK's opinion, however, it does not contain a sufficient commitment with regard to child labor and living wages for production in Asia. I have also asked New Balance Germany for a statement. To date I have not received an answer.

Without reason, PR boss LeBretton not only supported the designated US President Trump on behalf of New Balance. Unnecessarily, he abused the trust of the NB fans days ago. And although he knows that his company is anything but clean, he pours fuel on the fire. And the fire keeps burning. That's how it works. Not.

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Mike Kleiß runs a communications and branding agency in Cologne and writes about running here every Thursday.