American journalist Claudia Rosett delves deeper into the continued unrest between the people of Hong Kong and the Chinese government.
Hong Kong protestors are calling for a boycott of Vans sneakers.
Continue Reading Below
The Costa Mesa, California-based skateboarding sneaker company withdrew a popular footwear design from its annual Custom Culture Competition that showed support toward Hong Kong protests. The contest is open to anyone in the world; the winner gets the sneaker design made into an actual Vans shoe, while also receiving $25,000.
And one design — which was overtly supporting the Hong Kong protests — by a Canadian contestant named Naomiso was far and away the top vote-getter as of this weekend before Vans removed it from the competition. This person’s sneaker design featured specific nods to the protests, such as aspects of the Hong Kong flag and images of protestors wearing gas masks.
“As a brand that is open to everyone, we have never taken a political position and therefore review designs to ensure they are in line with our company’s long-held values of respect and tolerance, as well as with our clearly communicated guidelines for this competition,” the company said in a statement. “Based on the global competitions guidelines, Vans can confirm that a small number of artistic submissions have been removed.”
CLICK HERE TO GET FOX BUSINESS ON THE GO
As a result of the retailer’s action, on social media, protesters urged a boycott of the company’s products — with some going so far as to post images of the company’s sneakers being burned or trashed and accusing Vans’ corporate leadership of siding with China over Hong Kong in the ongoing dispute.
