In October 2018, the owner of S&Z Grocery in Athens, Alabama, was insistent that he would not sell 20 ounce bottles of Pepsi or Diet Pepsi because of a promotional label with a logo he disapproved of. The store sells a wide range of products.
The emblem? The NFL emblem.
S&Z Grocery owner Phillip Stewart told WAFF, “I don’t want to support them in any way, because I feel like it’s just wrong.” “Since the product does have the logo on it, I can’t sell it with integrity.”
Stewart told consumers via a Facebook post that he had withdrawn the goods and would no longer be selling them because he disagreed with the way certain NFL players were disrespecting the flag by kneeling during the national anthem.
In 2016, players kneeled during the playing of the national anthem to denounce racism and police brutality.
Stewart told WHNT that while he saw the motivation behind the players’ protest, “there are other ways to deal with it.”
“This has brought attention to it, I’m sure there is good that comes from this, I just don’t agree with the tactic,” he added.
The proprietor of the business stated that he would still sell Pepsi products, but not those that had the NFL logo, which, according to his distributor, would be present on the bottles through the Super Bowl.
The majority of people agreed with Phillip Stewart’s decision to discontinue marketing NFL-branded Pepsi products. They applauded him for defending his convictions.
However, other people didn’t care or felt it was foolish what he was doing.
