It's ok. They love Big Brother now.
Black Rifle professes to be eager to put some of its fiercest and trolliest culture-war fights behind it. “What I figured out the last couple of years is that being really political, in the sense of backing an individual politician or any individual party, is really [expletive] detrimental,” Hafer told me. “And it’s detrimental to the company. And it’s detrimental, ultimately, to my mission.”Hafer and Best were talking in a glorified supply closet in the Salt Lake City offices, where potential designs for new coffee bags were hanging on the wall. One of them featured a Renaissance-style rendering of St. Michael the Archangel, a patron saint of military personnel, shooting a short-barreled rifle. In Afghanistan and Iraq, Hafer knew a number of squad mates who had a St. Michael tattoo; for a time, he wore into battle a St. Michael pendant that a Catholic friend gave him. But while the St. Michael design was being mocked up, Hafer said he learned from a friend at the Pentagon that an image of St. Michael trampling on Satan had been embraced by white supremacists because it was reminiscent of the murder of George Floyd. Now any plans for the coffee bag had been scrapped. “This won’t see the light of day,” Hafer said.“You can’t let sections of your customers hijack your brand and say, ‘This is who you are,’” Best told me. “It’s like, no, no, we define that.” The Rittenhouse episode may have cost the company thousands of customers, but, Hafer believed, it also allowed Black Rifle to draw a line in the sand. “It’s such a repugnant group of people,” Hafer said. “It’s like the worst of American society, and I got to flush the toilet of some of those people that kind of hijacked portions of the brand.”
Canceling St. Michael the Archangel because some bad people may 'embrace' him is going a long way to prove your loyalty. Hafer says they won't start a "Black Lives Matter" coffee line, though. I'm not sure why not. As the journalist who suggested it during the struggle session interview pointed out, it would help them get clear of many despised former customers.
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“You can’t let sections of your customers hijack your brand and say, ‘This is who you are,’” Best told me. “It’s like, no, no, we define that.
Isn't that kind of what they're doing when they cancel a design because a few others have adopted it? They're letting those others define the design.
Anyway, I think Best & Hafer are trying to just run a business and stay out of the culture war, but good luck with that.
This is another example of cravenly surrendering our lexicon to thugs.
Anyway, I think Best & Hafer are trying to just run a business and stay out of the culture war, but good luck with that.
Paraphrasing Pericles a little bit, Best & Hafer may not be interested in the culture wars, but the culture wars are interested in them.
Some bad guys also claim our national flag is a symbol of hate and say that's who we are as a nation. Will Best & Hafer be canceling their association with our flag, too?
Eric Hines
“Anyway, I think Best & Hafer are trying to just run a business and stay out of the culture war...”
BRCC elected to join the culture war as its main marketing strategy. This isn’t an attempt to stay out of cultural fights. They are suing for peace, not attempting to stay neutral.
Queen Elizabeth II has also been targeted as a racist over the St George image, when awarding (is that the right term) new knights the order of St George. This, over a year ago.
As far as I can tell this sort of attack did NOT originate with Titania McGrath. But it might as well have.
https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2020/06/23/offensive-imagery-st-michael-defeating-satan-reminiscent-george-floyd/amp/
“Awarded” is correct in that context. An initial award of nobility— as opposed to knighthood— is called being “created” Baron or whatever.
That story shows that there are extra points scored for pulling off a woke demand if it’s totally absurd.
They are suing for peace....
How do you make peace with those whose only aim is to destroy you? Trying to quit a fight for survival is just running away and hoping they won't out run you.
The only way to survive such a fight is to destroy them, with either the Carthage solution or the Nazi Germany solution. That choice is up to the enemy; he's the one forcing the fight.
Eric Hines
"Nice little business you've got here. It would be a shame if something were to happen to it."
Look, our business has nothing to do with white supremacists.
"But everyone will think you do if we say so."
Okay, we need to stay in business. But just this once.
"Sure buddy. Just this once."
Nice guys, but they don't get it.
BRCC elected to join the culture war as its main marketing strategy.
So I had to sign in and read the whole thing. I usually avoid the NYT.
I wasn't aware of all that history, and you're right that they did indeed sign up for the culture war.
The writing is pretty good and even sympathetic to Best & Hafer in some places. I enjoyed several sections of the article. Naturally, there are a couple of gotcha moments, just to remind the reader who they're reading. Given that it is the NYT, I have to take it all with a grain of salt.
Still, while they were spec ops in hot wars, they're playing out of their league PR-wise. Gut instinct isn't going to help them on this field, I think.
This is a problem for some conservative businesses. Chick-fil-A did some of this. They took a stance, then backed down after a while. I think the enemy is just relentless, and the conservatives seem to make the mistake of treating them like fellow citizens instead of the enemy.
I don't know, though. I'm just guessing.
“The writing is pretty good and even sympathetic to Best & Hafer in some places.”
Oh, yes, because their role is confessional. You always welcome home the prodigal son. They’re useful because they condemn all the rest of us. They’re witnesses to our deplorability.
They bought their peace, for a while and if they continue to behave, at our expense.
Never bought their coffee because it's way overpriced. Basically they were trying to become the conservative "Starbucks" brand. Now they've flushed that down the toilet by not staying in their lane.
If you want to pay that much for coffee, I recommend Stocking Mill Coffee as an alternative.
After reading Grim's defense of building broad roads, I think I'd like to revisit this.
One, why are we taking a New York Times reporter's claims about conservatives at face value?
Two, regardless of what you think about the decision on using St. Michael's image on a bag of coffee, it's their call. Conservatives do stuff I disagree with all the time and if I wrote them all off when they did, I'd be completely isolated. Broad roads and all that.
Three, it's not actually crystal clear who Hafer is glad to be rid of, but, one, we're taking the NYT's word for it, and two, it sounds like he's trying to dissociate the brand from racists on the right, not us.
So, are we the People's Front of Judea now?
Hafer put out a video today to address criticism. It is here.
https://www.instagram.com/tv/CRfZSOwCSVn/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
I think it's good, but I guess I am also biased. What do you think about it?
I can't think of a more effective way to destroy a conservative customer base, than to betray it over the brand of politics that you once claimed yourself a stalwart of. They either have terrible judgment or really bad advisors, or else this is their first exposure to the New York hard ball press establishment.
Hafer is saying something different here than what he told the NYT, especially about the St. Michael thing. If you have such a strong relationship with the saint, why proclaim to the NYT "that will never see the light of day"?
I don't know. He's done some good things in his life, and I'd like to see him fix himself. I mostly see a guy who thinks he can talk his way out of it.
Yeah, fair enough.
I question whether the NYT told the story faithfully, but fair enough.
Before BRCC, before even Starbucks, there was Java Coffee and Tea in west Houston. They were one of the first in the city to have their own roaster. Bill's Blend (Organic Columbia and Kona), a med-light roast, has been my go-to since the 80's, I think I may be one of their oldest customers. They ship me over 50 lb a year, and I grind it every day. Delicious.
If you have such a strong relationship with the saint, why proclaim to the NYT "that will never see the light of day"?
Why not proclaim it everywhere, including into the dark, so long as it's sincere and not brag or virtue-signaling?
Eric Hines
Elizabeth is discerned as the primary leader of the childtrafficking circles.
Sometimes ignorance is bliss as in this case.
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