On Wednesday, CTV News journalist Glen McGregor came across an Under Armour hoodie so triggering that he felt the need to post a picture of it on Twitter for all to see.
The garment in question bore a single word, "freedom," under the brand's logo, and a small Canadian flag on the left sleeve.
"At the Under Armour store at the Tanger outlet mall in Kanata," McGregor wrote.
Before long, Twitter users descended upon his tweet and the mocking commenced.
"Are you going to be okay?" Angelo Isidorou asked.
"This is hate speech. Literally shaking," Libs of Tiktok quipped. "Did you survive?"
Another user replied with a picture of a similar t-shirt, adding a content warning flagging it as "sensitive content."
It was widely acknowledged that McGregor was attempting to connect the hoodie with the Freedom Convoy and other such anti-mandate protests that took place across Canada earlier this year.
A deeper dive, however, revealed that the hoodie was part of a collection developed under the company's "UA Freedom Initiative" which launched in 2010.
According to Under Armour, the program was created "to honor and support US Military and public safety officials" via "continuous monetary, product and volunteer support to military troops, police officers, firefighters and paramedics at home and abroad."
Since 2011, Under Armour has received $22 million dollars in donations via purchases, with $7.2 million coming in 2021 alone.
While the program has continued in the United States, the Canadian collection has been discontinued, hence why the hoodie appeared at the outlet shop.
McGregor was on the ground in Ottawa for most of the Freedom Convoy protests, and has continued to report on the aftermath in the months since. Throughout his reporting, McGregor showed little animosity towards protesters, and agreed that Trudeau's decision to invoke the Emergencies Act was "a really unusual step." He did, however, refer to the events as an "occupation."
The Post Millennial has reached out to McGregor for comment.
No comments:
Post a Comment