Alabama store pulls Pepsi products with NFL logo over anthem protests

By Dawn Onley

·October 14, 2018

DES PLAINES, IL - JUNE 13: Pepsi labels are seen on plastic bottles of the soft drink displayed on a store shelf June 13, 2006 in Des Plaines, Illinois. Doctors at the annual American Medical Association meeting in Chicago this week have called for a "fat tax" on sugary soft drinks to help fight obesity in the U.S. (Photo by Tim Boyle/Getty Images)

A grocery store owner in Athens, Ala., is refusing to sell Pepsi products because they feature the NFL logo.

In a Facebook post from S&Z Grocery owner Phillip Stewart said he pulled Pepsi bottles off the shelf himself and would no longer be selling them in his store.

“This may cause me to lose some business, but here goes. S&Z supermarket currently will not be selling 20 ounce Pepsi or Diet Pepsi. These two items are currently produced with the NFL logo on them. I refuse to sell the product until the logo is removed. I will not bow down in order to make a dollar as long as the athletes are allowed to bow down and disrespect the flag and country I love,” the Facebook post stated.

Stewart told WAFF he pulled the bottles off the shelf himself, saying it felt wrong to sell the products with the logo.

“I don’t want to support them (the NFL) in any way, because I feel like it’s just wrong. I can’t in good conscious sell the product because it does have the logo on it,” Stewart told Fox News.

The NFL protest, which began in the 2016-2017 football season by former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick, triggered a debate across the country, backlash for some players and harsh criticism from President Trump. Kaepernick started kneeling to protest police brutality and racial injustice.

Stewart told WHNT he understood why players were protesting but didn’t “agree with the tactic.”

“The cause is just. I think there are other ways to deal with it. This has brought attention to it I’m sure there is good that comes from this, I just don’t agree with the tactic,” he said.

The owner said refusing to support the league helped him sleep at night.

“I can sleep knowing that I’m not supporting somebody that’s doing something I don’t believe in,” Stewart said.

Stewart told news reporters that many of his customers supported his cause, but he has received negative phone calls and feedback about the Facebook post.