Truth be told, Arc’teryx doesn’t have a corporate policy on guns. Why would they? They are a Canadian clothing company. Granted, they have a division dedicated to Law Enforcement and Armed Forces customers, but they remain an outdoor brand.
But that didn’t stop a viral narrative from forming today after an employee of Arc’teryx’s corporate sales team sent this email to a member of the US firearms industry who has done business with Arc’teryx in the past, purchasing clothing embroidered with their corporate logo.
This image went viral. It’s an email from an actual Arc’teryx employee, but it doesn’t reflect policy.
Several people reached out to me to see if it was true. I told them I’d find out, and I did.
The email looked legitimate, but I was skeptical of the story since I had just received an Arc’teryx fleece along with others from SIG Sauer during a Defense Media event a few weeks back. What’s more, SIG Academy’s pro shop is well stocked with LEAF product embroidered with the SIG logo.
Instead of what is asserted in the email, interaction with the tactical industry (to include firearms related businesses) has transitioned to the LEAF team from corporate sales since those businesses have more in common with LEAF.
What I gather happened was that the Service Coordinator misunderstood the situation and thought that since the Professional & Corporate Sales Team would no longer handle those clients, Arc’teryx writ large was no longer doing business with them. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Internally, this has been addressed.
I reached out to the receiver of the email who wishes to remain anonymous, but they didn’t answer my query which was very short suspense. Unfortunately, they went to others in the firearms industry to verify the purported policy shift rather than taking the issue up the chain at Arc’teryx.
Within 10 minutes of contacting Arc’teryx I was able to verify that the information in the email was incorrect and did not reflect corporate policy.
Arc’teryx provided me with this statement:
“The email screenshot expressing a restrictive policy on corporate sales to tactical industry business was sent out in error. It does not reflect our current policy. The customer has been notified, apologized to, and been put in touch with a representative from the Arc’teryx LEAF business unit”.
In the end, this is a horrible misunderstanding gone viral. Unfortunately, many are embracing the narrative to validate their own feelings rather than looking at the facts and understanding that this is a very big misunderstanding. Still others have used this incident for gain.
If you’ve ever been frustrated by so-called cancel culture, this is a classic example where narrative got out in front of fact. And the fact is, Arc’teryx LEAF remains committed to continue to conduct business with its industry partners, just like it has for over a decade.
