Strategy March 05, 2025
LA Kings Apologize for Branded Scarves Given Away on ‘Armenian Night’
The NHL franchise provided a logoed item that was made in Turkey, which upset its Armenian fans.
Key Takeaways
• Flash Point: The Los Angeles Kings hockey franchise faced backlash for distributing scarves made in Turkey during “Armenian Night,” offending the Armenian community due to historical tensions.
• Trying To Make It Right: The Kings apologized and offered refunds or exchanges for the scarves.
• Lessons Learned: The incident underscores the importance of cultural sensitivity and awareness of product origins when providing promotional merchandise.
Branded scarves were at the center of a hot-button controversy involving a National Hockey League team and two countries with a century-long history of tensions.
On Feb. 22, the NHL’s Los Angeles Kings hosted “Armenian Night” – a celebration of people of Armenian descent who live in the Southern California city and its broader area. Los Angeles is home to the largest community of Armenian people outside of Armenia.
The Armenian flag
Along with a purchase of a ticket package for the night, attendees reportedly received a scarf in the colors of the Armenian flag that also bore the Los Angeles Kings logo. Chicago-based Rank & Rally, a firm that provides merchandise and a suite of related solutions for brands, procured the scarves.
Only it soon became clear there was a problem: The scarves were made in Turkey.
Armenia and neighboring Turkey have historically been enemies, an enmity that stretches back until at least 1915, when Ottoman Turkey allegedly killed an estimated 1.5 million Armenians through massacres, deportations and forced marches. Many historians – and Armenians – consider this to be a genocide, a designation Turkey resoundingly rejects.
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The discovery that the LA Kings Armenian Night scarves were made in Turkey prompted swift outcry among many in the Armenian community who the Kings were trying to court with a positive promotion.
The WiseNuts podcast, which describes itself as the number one Armenian-American podcast, called on the Kings to issue a public apology and to outline steps on how such a mistake will never happen again. WiseNuts also said the Kings should offer refunds since people bought the ticket packages/scarves “under the false impression that they were supporting the Armenian cause.”
“The fact that scarves, supposedly supporting Armenians, were made in Turkey is deeply offensive and unacceptable,” WiseNuts said in a letter to the Kings. “This was a major oversight that has caused frustration and disappointment among your Armenian fan base.”
The LA Kings have issued an apology to the Armenian community after it was revealed that the scarves produced for their Armenian Heritage Night were made in Turkey. In a statement, the team, along with its partners Rank + Rally and the TEAM LA Store, acknowledged the oversight… pic.twitter.com/i6McTcSaNG
— 301🇦🇲 (@301arm) March 2, 2025
The Kings responded by apologizing and offering full refunds or exchanges in person or by mail.
“We, the LA Kings and our partners at Rank & Rally want to sincerely apologize to all our friends in the Armenian community and beyond for the oversight that may have inadvertently impacted your experience during what should’ve been a joyous celebration,” the Kings said in a statement released Saturday, March 1. “We source, stock and sell merchandise from a select list of manufacturers that are officially licensed by the league, and we were unaware of the item’s production origin.”
The episode with the Los Angeles Kings and the scarf the team provided highlights the pivotal importance of being culturally sensitive to end-users when sourcing promotional products and knowing precisely where items are manufactured. Here are some important takeaways:
Merch initiatives for cultural events must be sensitive to those cultures. Parades, festivals, theme nights at clubs and at sporting events – these are just some of the avenues through which people of various cultural backgrounds are celebrated in the United States. When doing print or promo for such events, it’s vital that graphics, messaging and product selection demonstrate understanding of each culture in every initiative.
Thoroughly understand the end-users your client is targeting and the kind of impact/influence your customer wishes to have on them. While of course each individual’s predilections may vary, are there general preferences among a particular audience that you can play to in order to make merch initiatives more effective? Equally important, as this case shows, are there points of sensitivity among a group of end-users to steer well clear of for fear of creating a negative impression?
Pay attention to product origin. Do research on each client’s audience and then have a frank discussion with your buyer about that audience. Inquire if products sourced from a certain country might prove a misstep if provided to target end-users. Or, conversely, if products sourced from a particular nation may be especially well-received. Unions and companies that specialize in Made-in-the-USA products may want, for instance, to only buy USA-made merch.