Sometimes, despite all good intentions, one can miss the mark with hasty actions. This has now happened following a letter from the Jusos (SPD youth organization) from Papenburg, Lower Saxony, in which they informed Quelle GmbH, Europe's largest mail-order company, about the connections of the brand Lonsdale with the far-right scene. The brand is popular among right-wing extremists because the name contains the sequence NSDA (for NSDAP). In response, Quelle's managing director Michael Badke announced that after selling off the remaining stock, no further Lonsdale items would be sold.
The Jusos forgot in their protest that Lonsdale has been trying for some time to distance itself from its image. The British company launched the campaign "Lonsdale loves all colours" three years ago to support anti-racism projects. They demonstratively use models of different ethnicities in their advertising campaigns. Additionally, the German licensee Punch GmbH severed ties with retailers that sell fashion labels from the far-right scene. As a result, for example, sales in the hotspot region of Saxony have collapsed by 75 percent since September 2003.
On their website, the Jusos are now backtracking. They stated that it was not their intention to cause financial harm to the company. After all, a sales stop at Quelle would mean a loss of 15 - 20 percent of Lonsdale product sales in Germany. However, the brand's continued popularity in far-right circles is undisputed. For this reason, they still stand behind the action. The text passage "We did not pay enough attention to the fact that Lonsdale is actively fighting against racism and we clearly admit this mistake" has since been removed from the site. Quelle backtracked with significantly less media fuss: "After careful consideration, we have decided to continue the brand Lonsdale."
What will happen with Lonsdale in Germany remains uncertain. Punch GmbH has now announced that, likely due to the ongoing discussions surrounding the label, they do not intend to renew the licensing agreement with Lonsdale that expires at the end of the year.
The Jusos forgot in their protest that Lonsdale has been trying for some time to distance itself from its image. The British company launched the campaign "Lonsdale loves all colours" three years ago to support anti-racism projects. They demonstratively use models of different ethnicities in their advertising campaigns. Additionally, the German licensee Punch GmbH severed ties with retailers that sell fashion labels from the far-right scene. As a result, for example, sales in the hotspot region of Saxony have collapsed by 75 percent since September 2003.
On their website, the Jusos are now backtracking. They stated that it was not their intention to cause financial harm to the company. After all, a sales stop at Quelle would mean a loss of 15 - 20 percent of Lonsdale product sales in Germany. However, the brand's continued popularity in far-right circles is undisputed. For this reason, they still stand behind the action. The text passage "We did not pay enough attention to the fact that Lonsdale is actively fighting against racism and we clearly admit this mistake" has since been removed from the site. Quelle backtracked with significantly less media fuss: "After careful consideration, we have decided to continue the brand Lonsdale."
What will happen with Lonsdale in Germany remains uncertain. Punch GmbH has now announced that, likely due to the ongoing discussions surrounding the label, they do not intend to renew the licensing agreement with Lonsdale that expires at the end of the year.
