Barb May" <barbmay@gmx.com> wrote:

>The Civility Pledge
>
> * will be civil in my public discourse and behavior.
> * will be respectful of others whether or not I agree with them.
> * will stand against incivility when I see it.

NASCAR driver Brandon Brown, who inspired the phrase �Let�s Go
Brandon!� � albeit unintentionally � says since the anti-Biden phrase
became a nationwide chant, it�s �extremely difficult� for him to lock
down sponsorships.

The phrase was born when Brown, 28, won a race on October 2, and NBC
sports reporter Kelli Stavast confused the crowd jeering �F*** Joe
Biden� for �Let�s Go Brandon!�

Brown says he�s not political and he just wants the whole thing to go
away.

�It got extremely difficult for us,� Brown told Sports Business
Journal. �If you�re a national corporation, that means you sell to all
consumers � and unfortunately, when you get dragged into the political
arena, people want you to take a side.�

�I�ve never been put in a position where it�s, �OK, what side are you
on? Left or right?� So it�s hard for a brand to want to attach to
somebody who might be kind of divisive in their consumer base. If I�m
going to divide Coca-Cola, why would they want to talk to me?� he said.

�So the short answer is it�s been tough to connect with partnerships
just because it�s kind of viewed as a ticking time bomb: �What is he
doing to choose or say and how would that effect our consumer base?�
It�s too much of a risk. I understand it on their side but it�s made it
really hard to tie everything down.�

Brown said he has been forced to take action against some using the
phrase, the Journal said.

Brown said that he has by and large not sent cease-and-desist letters
to people using his name on merchandise, but he conceded that there
have been a couple times where he and his representation have had to
try to get something taken down related to his name or likeness, though
he did not specify what. He said NASCAR has given him some counsel on
how to deal with the overall situation. NASCAR President Steve Phelps
said at his state-of-the-sport press conference in November that the
league would protect its marks as it relates to unofficial merchandise
being made around the slogan. But NASCAR would not comment further to
SBJ about the topic when asked this week. Brown: �NASCAR and I are kind
of in the same boat about what to do here, but I don�t think anyone has
the right answer. The unfortunate part is it�s my name and my career
that are at stake and the risk is high. If I do something wrong in this
arena, my name as a driver falls off very fast. � Even a career in
NASCAR if I didn�t make it as a driver, trying to get another job in
the community, I�m always going to be the �Let�s Go Brandon� guy. I�m
always going to be known for that and how I handled this situation.�

After President Joe Biden was hit with the phrase on a Christmas eve
call to parents and children, NBC News dubbed it a �right-wing slur.�
�President Joe Biden was subjected to a right-wing anti-Biden slur
during a Christmas Eve call with NORAD�s Santa tracker,� the network
said in a story posted online.

�Biden and the first lady were speaking with families around the
country who had called into the North American Aerospace Defense
Command to receive an update on Santa�s location when one parent ended
the conversation by saying: �Let�s go Brandon.� The president did not
appear to recognize that the phrase is used by the right wing as a
euphemism for �F*** Joe Biden,� and responded: �Let�s go Brandon, I
agree.��

--
Let's go Brandon!