How hard is it to pull an NFL sponsorship?

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http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/09/how-hard-is-it-to-pull-an-nfl-sponsorship/



How hard is it to pull an NFL sponsorship?
September 16, 2014
Ellen Killoran
Posted with permission from International Business Times

Another major NFL sponsor has released a prepared statement in response to the recent domestic abuse allegations against NFL players, but few advertisers seem willing to make a truly meaningful statement -- by pulling their sponsorship.

Anheuser Busch, which makes Budweiser beer and is the NFL’s primary beer sponsor, issued a statement Tuesday that criticized the NFL for its response to multiple abuse allegations, but did not indicate the brand was considering severing ties with the league.

“We are disappointed and increasingly concerned by the recent incidents that have overshadowed this NFL season,” the statement reads. “We are not yet satisfied with the league’s handling of behaviors that clearly go against our own company culture and moral code. We have shared our concerns and expectations with the league.”

While Anheuser Busch’s statement could be interpreted as a bit stronger than the statement Cover Girl -- the NFL’s “official beauty sponsor” -- released on Monday, the beer brand’s statement notably omits any words like “abuse” or “violence.” A spokesperson for Anheuser Bush confirmed that the "recent incidents" the statement refers to are indeed the video of Baltimore Ravens' Ray Rice knocking his fiancee unconscious and the Minnesota Vikings' Adrian Peterson's indictment for reckless or negligent injury to a child after he allegedly hit his 4-year-old son with a tree branch. The spokesperson did not offer an explanation why the terms were omitted, and did not respond to questions about whether Anheuser Busch might be reconsidering its sponsorship of the NFL.