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Activision Blizzard – Kellogs also says goodbye as a sponsor

Even more changes at Activision Blizzard. Activision Blizzard executive Fran Townsend steps down from her position on the Blizzard... Fragster | 7. August 2021

Even more changes at Activision Blizzard. Activision Blizzard executive Fran Townsend steps down from her position on the Blizzard Women’s Network, and Kellogs also says goodbye as a sponsor. Things are pretty crazy at Blizzard these days.

Fran Townsend, one of Activision Blizzard’s executives, has stepped down from her position after weeks as executive sponsor of the Activision Blizzard King Employee Women’s Network. One of the reasons that lead to her resignment is her email saying that the claims of mistreated women were ” distorted and false.” Townsend said the claim consisted of “factually incorrect, old stories taken out of context.”

Activision Blizzard even in more trouble now

After Townsend sent the email, several thousand Blizzard employees signed an open letter calling for Townsend to resign “due to the damaging nature of her statement.” So far, however, it is unknown whether Townsend will remain the vice president of corporate affairs, corporate secretary and chief compliance officer, or whether she will resign from that position as well.

Townsend also sparked controversy on Twitter shortly after, where she shared an article from The Atlantic that criticized whistleblowing. Blizzard employees claimed Townsend blocked all people who responded critically to her tweet. She later deactivated her Twitter account altogether.

Since the whole Blizzard scandal broke, some sponsors have also distanced themselves from the company. In addition to State Farm, Coca Cola, and T-Mobile, Kelloggs has now also decided to pull out. In a statement, Kellogg Company spokesman Kris Bahner said the company will sever ties with Blizzard effective immediately.

“We find these allegations troubling and inconsistent with our commitment to equity, diversity and inclusion,” Bahner said. Advertisement and publicity for the Overwatch League has often been through Kellogg’s products. The Kellogg’s logo has since disappeared from the Overwatch League partner site, and the company doesn’t seem interested in supporting the league anywhere in the near future.