a sad joke

this must be a joke

NIKE AND PATAGONIA AMONG AMERICA’S MOST PATRIOTIC BRANDS

Posted by SGB Media | Jul 2, 2019 | SGB Updates, Update

Nike, Patagonia, Gatorade, Converse, New Balance, L.L. Bean, Louisville Slugger and Wilson all landed on the 17th annual Brand Keys survey of iconic American brands.

I never heard of Brand Keys so I looked them up.

Brand Keys is a brand research consultancy specializing in predictive consumer behavioral brand equity, loyalty, and engagement metrics. Brand Keys is headquartered in New York, NY and has offices in Dublin, Dubai, London, Madrid, Sydney, and Tokyo.

I also called them to find out what their questions were since they surveyed 5,862 consumers aged 18 to 68. However I think they are more concerned with companies being recognized by the consumers rather than if the consumer knows or even has an interest in the policies of the companies or whether they are patriotic or not. I also was interested when this survey is normally published.

I also wondered immediately when I saw the head line if there was something behind this survey being published one day after nike did what they did demonstrating that they are not patriotic. What nike did certainly doesn’t bode well for their patriotic or rather non-patriotic stand.

Each of the companies on the list that are garment manufacturers to include ll bean, ralph lauren, old navy, and a few others cannot claim being patriotic as far as I am concerned if all of what they sell in the USA is made in Asia someplace.

So much for the brand keys survey. If I hear back from them I let you know what I have learned from them. I did get a return call. When I asked what question was asked to suggest a product was patriotic of the participants there was none. From what they told me people just sort of conjured up the notion that a product was patriotic. I wonder what the response would be if they asked if a company making the product only made it in China would they still think of it as being  a patriotic product? Now I think the survey of patriotic brands is nonsense. Maybe in the future they will ask if they thought the company making products was patriotic. 

Yes it is a joke and a bad one at that.

FREE MONEY FROM THE STATE OF COLORADO

I did receive a call from the head on the program that awards the grants. The company wanting grant money fills out a form and submits it to the economic office for international development and can receive a maximum of $15,000.00.The big agnes company did receive the $15,000.00.The second benefit is reimbursing one half of the all your expenses that you incur when you travel to Europe. Those expenses include airfare, hotels, meals, cost of exhibiting and who knows what else.If they amount to $30, 40 or say 50,000.00 they will reimburse you for half.

If at the end of a year or two your efforts do not yield positive results such as increasing your business by virtue of trying to sell in Europe you are not obligated to give back one penny.

What the economic development people want to see is an increase in your work force, an increase in product production all signs of success here in Colorado.

I told the woman I was speaking with if that is the case with big agnes they buy all of the products they sell from China or Vietnam or some other country in Asia. They do not have a factory in the USA so they will not hire any new workers for increasing their production, you cannot increase what does not exist in the first place. I did also tell her I was disappointed as to how the state was spending my tax dollars, another reason why I do not want to be a tax collector from all the different cities and municipalities in the state of Colorado.

She did mention the moneys could be used for R&D, at that point I told her to tell the folks at big agnes they should use the R&D moneys to learn how to make a good sleeping bag versus the “no sleep sleeping bags” they currently sell. She laughed but I told her it was true.

If they show their Asian made products in Europe they will only be showing the Europeans the same garbage the European importers are currently getting from the same factories in Asia only a different label.

All of these marketing companies which is what big agnes is will have product shipped from Asia to their buyers in Europe if the make sales. Why would they bring it into the USA and then repackage it and reship to Europe.

My opinion is that people who go to government agencies who have a hand out program need to get a job.

Should we put big agnes on the patriotic list too?