The Fresno Grizzlies ran a 3-minute scoreboard video tribute to Reagan on Memorial Day. Apparently, no one had bothered to actually watch the video first before it played in the ballpark. And if you believe that...
Source: Fresno Bee
Heineken International, which owns Dos Equis and Tecate beer, late on Thursday confirmed it has pulled its sponsorships for those brands from the Fresno Grizzlies over an inflammatory video shown during a doubleheader on Memorial Day.
Dos Equis tweeted the announcement Thursday afternoon.
Heineken International also confirmed to The Bee via email it had ended its relationship with the Grizzlies.
“Both Tecate and Dos Equis were sponsors of the Fresno Grizzlies,” said spokesperson Thomas Hunt. “We do not support those views expressed in the video, that was aired during the Fresno Grizzlies game on Memorial Day. For that reason, we have ended this relationship, effective immediately and have let the team know of our decision.”
Heineken International declined to disclose the value of the sponsorships.
The decision comes one day after Sun-Maid Growers ended its corporate sponsorship with the Grizzlies, the Washington Nationals’ Triple A affiliate.
The Grizzlies have generated national headlines for airing a video tribute that includes a montage of images equating Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to the likes of North Korea dictator Kim Jong Un and former Cuban president Fidel Castro.
We are disheartened to learn of the views expressed in the video that aired during Monday’s Fresno Grizzlies game, as they do not reflect our core values. We have ended our relationship with the team, effective immediately, and we have informed them accordingly.
— Dos Equis (@DosEquis) May 30, 2019
The Grizzlies apologized, a couple of days after the fact.
The Fresno Grizzlies once again apologize for a video shown in our ballpark Monday evening. What was supposed to be a day to remember those who made the ultimate sacrifice in service to our country was overshadowed by a grievous error for which we are truly sorry. The criticism we have received is deserved.
The video was not produced, created or commissioned by the Fresno Grizzlies. It was carelessly taken from YouTube. There are multiple versions of this video available on the internet, the version that our employee selected contained offensive content. The airing of the video in the ballpark was the result of an unintentional oversight by an employee who did not view the video in its entirety. The employee responsible has been reprimanded by the organization.
We understand the dangers and ramifications of what was shown. We have publicly apologized to Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez. Regardless of your political viewpoint, we believe that all people who dedicate their lives to public service deserve respect.
We fully acknowledge that nothing we say at this point can take back the harm and pain that this has caused. We have implemented new internal protocols to ensure that this never happens again.
The Washington Post's Thomas Boswell called for someone to be fired for the incident. The Grizzlies have said they've "reprimanded" the person responsible, but didn't elaborate on what that meant.
The entire video can be seen here.
