NRA Clarifies Yeti Position
Yeti "refused to place a previously-negotiated order from NRA-ILA."
Posted May 7, 2018 in Legal Issues by Russ Chastain with 159 Comments

You probably won't see any more coolers like this.
You probably won't see any more coolers like this.

Well all right! Finally, someone in the NRA vs. Yeti conflict has provided a more thorough explanation of what happened… and it turns out that I was wrong.

This drama began when NRA announced that Yeti had essentially broken up with NRA. Folks got angry. Then Yeti published a statement saying that they’d simply eliminated a discounting program and “explained that we were offering them an alternative customization program broadly available to consumers and organizations, including the NRA Foundation.” Read more on that here.

In my post on the subject, I called for actual evidence from either side of the rift. I tended to lean towards Yeti’s side of things — because what company is going to lie so blatantly, knowing that if they are lying, people will find out and be even more unhappy with them? Turns out, that company is Yeti.

In a statement published on April 27 (apologies for the delay, I was on a turkey hunt), NRA-ILA said the following:

YETI severed ties with the NRA and is now engaging in damage control after a backlash from many of its customers. In early March, YETI refused to place a previously-negotiated order from NRA-ILA, citing ‘recent events’ as the reason – a clear reference to the tragedy in Parkland, Florida. YETI then delivered notice to the NRA Foundation that it was terminating a 7-year agreement and demanded that the NRA remove the YETI name and logo from all NRA digital assets, as well as refrain from using any YETI trademarks in future print material. YETI is trying to spin the story otherwise, those are the facts. While Yeti can change their story, but they can’t change the facts. Whether their changing story is due to the recent cancellation of the IPO from their New York City owners is a question only they can answer. — Marion P. Hammer.

Obviously, I was wrong about Yeti and their leadership. Not only did they make a decision to cut the NRA loose, they lacked the spine to stick with that decision when it began to affect their bottom line — and they flat-out lied about it. That ain’t good.

Still, don’t trash your Yeti stuff. Paint over the brand name (or slap an NRA sticker over it) if you must, but wear it out. You spent too much dough to just kiss it good-bye.

Russ Chastain
Editor & Contributing Writer Russ Chastain is a lifelong hunter and shooter who has spent his life learning about hunting, shooting, guns, ammunition, gunsmithing, reloading, and bullet casting. He started… [Learn More]