CoverGirl Responds to NFL Uproar: ‘Domestic Violence Is Completely Unacceptable’

Over the weekend, this Photoshopped image of one of CoverGirl’s NFL ads went viral on Twitter, accompanied by the hashtag #GoodellMustGo, referring to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell’s handling of the Ray Rice domestic violence scandal:

The outcry against CoverGirl’s role as “official beauty sponsor” of the NFL was strong enough that the company decided to release a statement defending the partnership on Facebook:

As a brand that has always supported women and stood for female empowerment, COVERGIRL believes domestic violence is completely unacceptable. We developed our NFL program to celebrate the more than 80 million female football fans. In light of recent events, we have encouraged the NFL to take swift action on their path forward to address the issue of domestic violence.

But for some fans of the brand, their “encouragement” that the NFL address domestic violence was not enough. The top comment on the post reads, “Maybe encourage them by dropping your sponsorship. Otherwise you’re just enabling them.”

Other fans had similar reactions. “Put your money where your mouth is Covergirl,” one wrote. “No more sponsorship until they remove the wife punching, child stick hitting abusers.”

Another said, “Assumed translation: Fix this now or we pull our partnership? At least I hope that’s what this means, otherwise you’re merely valuing your own bottom line, and all that product sitting on shelves, over your concern for the welfare of women.”

[Photo via CoverGirl]

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