Cycling Team Loses Sponsor: Turns Out Genocide is Bad for Branding
It seems even professional cycling, typically a haven of sponsored neutrality and bafflingly specific energy gels, can’t outrun the optics of ongoing atrocities. Premier Tech, a Canadian firm, announced it would not renew its title sponsorship of the Israel-Premier Tech team, citing the ‘social environment’—a euphemism apparently for people not wanting their brand associated with daily bombing
campaigns. This follows months of activists chanting 'Free Palestine!' at European races, daring spectators to question why a team directly named 'Israel' was immune from public scrutiny, or indeed, direct action. One might wonder if the 'Israel' in the team's name was a strategic choice or a branding blunder. While governments and media outlets work tirelessly to sanitize, deflect, and normalize,
the average person (even those watching bike races) seems able to grasp the concept of collective punishment. Perhaps the next sponsorship deal will be for 'Netanyahu's Biking Brigade'—though one suspects even fewer companies would sign up for that particular PR disaster. After all, genocide isn't exactly a key demographic for high-end sporting goods.