People are blowing up Yeti coolers over claims that the company cut ties with the NRA
- National Rifle Association (NRA) supporters are destroying Yeti products in response to a letter that claimed the company had stopped doing business with the NRA Foundation.
- Videos posted online show people crushing, shooting, and blowing up Yeti products, which can cost as much as $1,300.
- Yeti denies that it has stopped doing business with the NRA.
Gun rights advocates are blowing up Yeti products in response to claims that the company has cut ties with the National Rifle Association Foundation.
Supporters of the NRA are posting and sharing videos of the destruction online. In one video posted to YouTube, women are shown firing at a Yeti cooler filled with the explosive Tannerite. The women later pose by the destroyed cooler and say "Yeti does not support the NRA, so we do not support Yeti."
Other videos show people crushing, shooting, and blowing up other Yeti products including mugs and coolers that can cost as much as $1,300. The Washington Post was the first to report on the Yeti backlash.
The campaign to destroy Yeti products was ignited by a letter claiming that the company stopped doing business with The NRA Foundation, the charitable arm of the NRA, and "refused to say why." The letter was sent Friday to NRA members by the NRA Institute for Legislative Action.
"They will only say they will no longer sell products to The NRA Foundation," the letter, sent by former NRA president Marion Hammer, said. "That certainly isn't sportsmanlike. In fact, Yeti should be ashamed."
Yeti says the letter is inaccurate, and denies that it has stopped doing business with the NRA.
"A few weeks ago, Yeti notified the NRA Foundation, as well as a number of other organizations, that we were eliminating a group of outdated discounting programs," the company said in a statement on its Facebook page. "When we notified the NRA Foundation and the other organizations of this change, we explained that we were offering them an alternative customization program."
