Nike to stop manufacturing Livestrong bracelets
The company helped start the cancer-fighting foundation and has long made its iconic, yellow bracelets. Now, months after Lance Armstrong’s doping scandal came to a head, Nike’s severing that key tie.
In 2012, as Lance Armstrong contested and eventually stopped fighting charges that he used performance-enhancing drugs during his cycling career, Livestrong, the foundation Armstrong started to fund cancer research, sold more of its iconic, yellow bracelets than ever.
According to ESPN, Nike manufactured and sold $150 million worth of Livestrong branded merchandise that year. Despite those numbers, Nike plans to back away from its high-profile involvement with the foundation it helped start.
“Nike has made the decision to stop producing new Livestrong product after its Holiday 2013 line,” KeJuan Wilkins, a Nike spokesman, said in a statement. “We will continue to support the Livestrong Foundation by funding them directly as they continue their work serving and improving outcomes for people facing cancer.”
Livestrong issued a statement in response thanking Nike for its support over the years, but the foundation was also quick to defend its integrity:
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