Lids’ Bizarre Marketing for MLB Memorial Day Caps

In recent years, MLB, along with their on-field merchandisers New Era and Majestic created a whole host of caps to “honor” the country, moms, dads, and the troops. On Memorial Day–which should be noted, is a holiday honoring those who’ve died while serving in the U.S. Armed Forces–ballplayers wear camouflage jerseys and hats. New Era and Majestic design new caps and jerseys every year, and of course, they’re made for retail.

I’m not into the whole camo thing, but it’s cool. MLB donates proceeds to its Welcome Back Veterans organization, something its done since the first “Stars & Stripes” caps debuted on July 4, 2008.

However, sports paraphernalia superstore Lids had a bizarre take when they sent an email advertising the caps. Three of the Memorial Day caps were displayed–resting on fancy pillows–with the header “WE SALUTE OUR KINGS”.  Lids also has a banner ad on its home page pushing the same message.

Oh…

A few things here:

1. The men and women of the United States Armed forces are not kings (or queens)
2. By calling members of the military “kings,” you discount a hell of a lot of women serving our country
3. As I mentioned, Memorial Day was established to honor the fallen, not “kings”
4. The United States was founded following a rebellion against a tyrannical king. The government established thereafter created a system of checks and balances in an effort to prevent the rise of a monarch
5. The ad glorifies the military in a very odd way that’s in direct conflict with the Constitution and the principles upon which this nation was founded

I get it. Lids is trying to sell hats. They also want to honor the military. Both of those are perfectly satisfactory things to do, but this is just bizarre. For whatever reason, after tweeting about the issue, Lids’ customer service reached out to me. I sent them a direct message, but at publication time, they had yet to comment back after I addressed similar points as those above. If they say anything, I’ll gladly share it.

But, wow, Lids. Just, no. There are plenty of ways we can honor the fallen, sell hats, and not use really bizarre ways to sell merch.

Anyways, I would much prefer if teams wore a simple black band around their sleeves and held ceremonies honoring the fallen from their respective communities. But for those of you who dig on this merch, enjoy, I guess.