Sponsors Respond to White Comment Furor
April 3, 2009
Many readers of MMAPayout.com took advantage of the information listed in our original post on the Dana White tirade to contact UFC sponsors to voice their displeasure on the topic. We have received several correspondences from our readers and wished to pass on the corporate responses.
Anheuser-Busch responded thusly (multiple folks sent this one in):
Thanks for contacting Anheuser-Busch.
The comments by Dana White were inappropriate, insensitive and out-of-line. We have spoken to Dana about the gravity of this issue and communicated that our company maintains a corporate commitment to zero tolerance for discrimination. Anheuser-Busch is guided by the belief, ‘Making Friends Is Our Business,’ and that every consumer is important, regardless of race, sex, religion, color, sexual orientation, gender identity national origin, age, disability or veteran’s status.
It is our understanding that Dana has posted an apology for his inappropriate comments. We thank you for contacting Anheuser-Busch and allowing us an opportunity to respond. Please let us know if you have additional comments or questions.
One reader went so far as to contact another sponsor not listed, Scion. Here is the Scion response:
“The Scion marketing team has reviewed your email and wanted us to pass on the following information to you.
Firstly, we want it to be clear that the personal beliefs, actions and statements from the anyone connected with the UFC are not necessarily shared by Scion.
Second, Scion has already been in the process of slowly pulling out of UFC sponsorship since last year because it no longer aligns with our marketing objectives. We are still under contract to advertise with them in 2009, but by the end of the year we will be out completely.
Lastly, please be aware that Scion plans to continue advertising on Spike TV in general as we try to reach out to a younger male audience through other programs on their network.
Please let us know if you have any other questions.
