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Businesses Cave to Social Media Pressure, Cut Ties With NRA

NRA Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre / Getty Images
February 23, 2018

A number of companies have decided to end co-branding agreements with the National Rifle Association following pressure from gun-control advocates who blame the Second Amendment group for the tragic school shooting that took place in Parkland, Florida, last week.

The controversy first arose when ThinkProgress, a left-wing online publication, published an article disparaging 27 companies it claimed were enabling and supporting the NRA. The article aimed to shame companies that held contractual and mutually beneficial corporate partnerships with the NRA as being supporters of an organization that opposes "common sense gun laws." The corporate partnerships included discounts for NRA members at hotels, car rental agencies, and a premium home delivery wine service, amongst other offers.

The article initiated a social media campaign called #BoycottTheNRA, which seeks to force all businesses partnering with the NRA to end their agreements in an effort to starve the gun-rights group of legitimacy and funding.

Enterprise Holdings, Inc., which is the parent company of car rental agencies Enterprise, Alama, and National, became one of the first companies to announce its intention to end discounts for NRA members. The company made the announcement on Twitter in response to individual users who criticized the organization's partnership. Enterprise Holdings has not released an official statement; however, they have made clear they will stop honoring the discount on March 26.

Two of Enterprise's biggest competitors, Hertz and Avis, have not followed suit, something that the five million supporters of the NRA were quick to note might have an impact on their future rental car choices.

On the heels of the announcement by Enterprise, the First National Bank of Omaha announced it too would end its partnership with the NRA. The bank, one of the largest privately owned creditors in the nation, issued co-branded credit cards with the NRA logo emblazoned on the front. In the past, the bank promoted itself as offering the "Official Credit Card of the NRA."

The Symantec Corporation, a cybersecurity and software company, announced that it was ending its partnership with the NRA. The organization, which offered discounts to NRA members on Norton anti-virus software and malware protection, announced the decision on Twitter.

Also on Friday, one of the nation's largest insurance companies, MetLife, Inc., announced it too would be cutting ties with the NRA.