The "Stew" Situation

*As always, these blog posts are my own viewpoints and in no way are reflective of or endorsed by "Friends of Maplenol Barn" or Save the Barn Committee.*

Last week I called Stew Hansen's dealership to let them know they lost my business due to Stew's disrespectful outburst at the City Council meeting.

I told the receptionist that I'm a mom and dodge minivan owner in the market for another vehicle (because we are) and I was disturbed at the comments by Stew Hansen at the City Council meeting. She asked me when the meeting was held.

She informed me that he does not and has not owned the dealership for some time. I told her that I was so irritated by his comments that I blogged about it and shared my feelings about his comments with family and friends. I also told her that I reviewed the video online from the city council meeting just to be sure I heard correctly.

She asked me for the web address of the video (I gave it to her) so she can share the video with her supervisors. She said she has had a few calls already about this issue and thanked me for bringing it to her attention. She said that maybe they will have to inform the public that Stew is no longer associated with their dealership so it doesn't affect their sales.

Until Stew Hansen's (the dealership) sends out a press release stating that they are no longer associated with Stew (the man), I will refrain from even glancing at the dealership that bears his name. I refuse to have the name of such a negative Ned on the back of my vehicle.

In this day in age, it's all about branding. If you own the brand, you must protect the brand. If someone created a fashion line called "Sarah Palin", I highly doubt liberals would be wearing "Property of Sarah Palin" shirts.

Just as if someone created a line of purses with the name "Nancy Pelosi", I highly doubt Conservative women would buy the latest "Nancy Pelosi Purse", just due to the name. Even if Sarah or Nancy had NOTHING to do with the company. That's what's great about our country. We can say what we believe and we can express our beliefs with our pocketbook. And until the dealership announces they have no relationship with the person (or change their name) I will continue to steer my business elsewhere.