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Clif Bar drops sponsored athletes for free-soloing?

Andrew Williams · · Concord, NH · Joined Mar 2014 · Points: 625

Doligo, I think there are only a couple of the Clif builder bars which are not vegan. Trust me, being vegan myself I have eaten a lot of these things, hahaha.

I think dropping climbers for climbing makes zero sense, but I can only speculate it is because they don't want to be linked to someone dying while soloing, and then they get sued because, "well he/she ate a Clif bar and figured so did their climbers that solo, so they could now solo." Sad, but that scenario is a possibility this day in age. Red Bull just settled for $13M because, OMG, it doesn't really give you wings?!?!

Danny M · · CO · Joined Aug 2011 · Points: 125

If athletes taking too much risk is their logic, then Clif bar should drop all their backcountry skiiers as well, because it's starting to look like a more dangerous sport than BASE jumping or any form of climbing.

outsideonline.com/outdoor-a…

But the whole thing is probably just a marketing tactic, and brownie Clif Bars look and taste like petrified turds anyway.

JoanneF · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Nov 2011 · Points: 0

The timing of Clif Bar's announcement is really odd. Why didn't they think of this before sponsoring Valley Uprising? Their claim that they've decided to "focus on the more traditional aspects of the sport" totally contradicts their decision. What about pre-1950's climbers who used hemp ropes and even later climbers who didn't have the modern equipment we use today? I imagine there was a lot of free-soloing by necessity. Also, the climbers dropped by Clif Bar have some significant alpine accomplishments (I don't know if Honnold does) - that's pretty "traditional" in my book.

Most energy bars are glorified (and overpriced) candy bars anyway. I used to eat Clif Bars but got sick of them -- the same reason that the Clif Bar founder decided to create a new e-bar : "Halfway through the ride, exhausted and hungry, Gary realized he just couldn’t eat another unappetizing, sticky, hard-to-digest bar." Hmm.

There are plenty of easy granola/energy bar recipes out there -- otherwise just eat a Snickers bar.

mustardtiger · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Oct 2011 · Points: 20

Didn't that company sponsor the big dws comp in park city?

SXL · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Oct 2014 · Points: 10
doligo wrote: They sound like a very good and responsible company: clifbar.com/article/our-fiv…
Golman Sachs has a bunch of feel-good slogans like that too. In reality, however, the only thing any company cares about is the bottom line.

Feels like Clif is shifting towards being mainstream "athletic nutrition" company. Probably getting ready for IPO or an acquisition. First they installed a "proper" CEO, now a re-branding campaign. Just IMO, of course.
doligo · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Sep 2008 · Points: 264
SXL wrote: Golman Sachs has a bunch of feel-good slogans like that too. In reality, however, the only thing any company cares about is the bottom line. Feels like Clif is shifting towards being mainstream "athletic nutrition" company. Probably getting ready for IPO or an acquisition. First they installed a "proper" CEO, now a re-branding campaign. Just IMO, of course.
True. I just never think of food manufacturers as IPO-worthy, they usually do well as private companies. Krispy Kreme and Jones Soda come to mind as examples of good products gone wrong once they went public.
rging · · Salt Lake City, Ut · Joined Jul 2011 · Points: 210

“... we’ve made the decision to get back to Clif’s roots and focus on the more traditional aspects of the sport, like trad, bouldering, alpinism and sport climbing to name a few...”

Maybe they want to get into the beanie market?

AndrewFH · · Erie, PA · Joined Jul 2010 · Points: 5

Why would you base your food consumption off of a companies sponsored athletes...this won't affect my cliff bar consumption at all, which isn't much. And I think they are taking the hard road, it would be easy to exploit these soloing acts and make money, they are trying to condone safer climbing... And the only reason 99% of climbers solo is for attention. The 1% that tops out a 5.13, walks off and doesn't say shit are the true climbers.

Benjamin Brooke · · San Pedro, CA · Joined Apr 2012 · Points: 1,050

who cares?

en.r · · Ojai, Ca · Joined Dec 2012 · Points: 55

Prolly had to do with their insurance policy.

Benjamin Brooke · · San Pedro, CA · Joined Apr 2012 · Points: 1,050

im surprised rock and ice didnt use the emergency broadcast system to let us all know....this is crazy...im going to have to rearrange my whole stock portfolio now....clif bar doesn't even need these guys they have gotten so big...i hope this doesn't mean they wont be sponsoring things like Valley Uprising in the future...i actually enjoyed the film...i dont see how someone could watch that and not want to start climbing and head off to yosemite.

eyesonice2014 · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Nov 2014 · Points: 140

It hurt me deeply. It's like taking a candy bar from a baby. In this case a cliff bar. Honnold probably gets off El Cap after a few days and like , "wow! What did just happen, dude?? "
Btw I'm not going to eat Cliff bars anymore. Mostly because they dropped Steph.

20 kN · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Feb 2009 · Points: 1,346
i.reynaud wrote:Prolly had to do with their insurance policy.
I don't think that sponsored climbers are actually employees of the companies they represent, but rather independent contractors. If true, workman's compensation insurance would not cover them, and general commercial liability insurance wouldn't really apply either.
en.r · · Ojai, Ca · Joined Dec 2012 · Points: 55

Your right . All the credit, but no responsibility. Just a thought though.

jTaylor · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Sep 2012 · Points: 50

With the amount of good Timmy O'Neil has done with Pardox Sports, his firing blows my mind the most.... Clif bar is officially a soulless corporation in my book.

M Mobley · · Bar Harbor, ME · Joined Mar 2006 · Points: 911
20 kN wrote: I don't think that sponsored climbers are actually employees of the companies they represent, but rather independent contractors. If true, workman's compensation insurance would not cover them, and general commercial liability insurance wouldn't really apply either.
I bet they have insurance in case they get successfully sued.
eyesonice2014 · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Nov 2014 · Points: 140
Miike wrote: I bet they have insurance in case they get successfully sued.
I'm sure they had them sign the wavers. They are afraid some add kids get all hyped up oding on clif bars and fall off some rock while soloing. Then their parents will sue the bar cos "Timmy wanted to be like Alex..." , ya know.
eyesonice2014 · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Nov 2014 · Points: 140

I wonder how many dumb asses jumped off some roofs before red Bull got away from their "give you wings" motto.

M Mobley · · Bar Harbor, ME · Joined Mar 2006 · Points: 911
eyesonice2014 wrote:I wonder how many dumb asses jumped off some roofs before red Bull got away from their "give you wings" motto.
probably depends on how much vodka they put in it
20 kN · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Feb 2009 · Points: 1,346
Miike wrote: I bet they have insurance in case they get successfully sued.
Yes, general commercial liability insurance, but I dont see how that would apply to Honnold, Davis and the others. So say Honnold solos a route and dies (that's what they are worried about, right?). So, how exactly is someone going to claim they suffered damages from Cliff Bar as a result of Honnold dieing? Or going with the other scenario where a kid sees Honnold, eats a Cliff Bar and then goes soloing. I doubt that would hold up in court unless Cliff Bar advocated that eating the product made you capable of soloing, which they dont. For reference, Red Bull sponsors BASE jumpers that do all kinds of crazy shit, some easily as dangerous as soloing, and they have been sponsoring these guys forever. They arnt worried about liability, and they just settled a major lawsuit.
Guideline #1: Don't be a jerk.

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