The Fresno Grizzlies have lost a major sponsor as a direct result of a video aired in their stadium that implied Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was an “enemy of freedom.”
Sun-Maid raisins, the ubiquitous raisin company based in Fresno, California, announced Wednesday evening that they would be pulling support for the minor league baseball team.
“We are deeply disappointed by the Memorial Day tribute video the Fresno Grizzlies aired on Monday,” Sun-Maid said in an email sent to The Fresno Bee. “Sun-Maid does not support the views or sentiments expressed in the video, nor does it condone the airing of it.”
“While the Grizzlies have apologised for this mistake, we are standing on the side of what we believe is right and terminating our sponsorship of the team,” the statement continued.
Over the weekend, the Grizzlies aired a video set to Ronald Reagan’s 1984 Memorial Day speech which placed a photo of Representative Ocasio-Cortez in between slides of Kim Jong-Un and Fidel Castro. The photos were shown as the former president’s speech mentioned “the enemies of freedom, those who are potential adversaries.”
The series of photos, seemingly of “adversaries,” also included protestors holding a sign that said “No Trump, No KKK, No Fascist USA.”
Sun-Maid recently hired a new CEO, and is in the process of revising their advertising plan. Recently, the company filmed a video in the spirit of Jerry Seinfeld’s series Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee, inviting Mr Seinfeld to join the CEO in their raisin fields. The video substituted the comedian’s normal car for a tractor.
“This decision is not meant to provide any political perspective whatsoever,” a representative for Sun-Maid told The Washington Post. “It doesn’t matter which end of the political spectrum you’re on; we have taken this action as we simply believe this is the right thing to do.”
