UK Craft Distiller’s Twitter Post About US Protests Backfires

With some American cities still burning, a UK craft distiller took to social media to promote one of its botanical gins for its high flammability…

Not smart….

After President Trump issued a tweet included the phrase “when the looting starts, the shooting starts” which was coined by Miami Police Chief Walter Headley in 1967, in reference to his aggressive policing policies in primarily black neighborhoods, Bristol Gin took the opportunity to promote its 75% ABV gin not so subtly, suggesting that it could work in making a Molotov cocktail…

The twitter post featured a photo of a flame and a bottle with a rag stuffed in it, against a concrete steps backdrop.

It was a social media promotion that we expectUK craft distiller would probably like to take back…

Social media erupted after the distillery’s tweet, accusing Bristol Gin of tone-deafness and dragging the ‘diverse’ city of Bristol, England into a “cheap marketing ploy.  The BBC called it “vile,” others “tasteless,” and some retail outlets announced that they had dropped the line.

And even though Bristol Gin was quick to remove the offensive tweet, the micro-distillery also took to twitter to apologize…

A spokesperson for Bristol Dry Gin told the Drinks Business that its founders have now made contact with Black Lives Matter to “better understand the situation and ensure that we are better educated.”

“All of us at the company are determined not to make a similar mistake again and we will be working hard to make a positive contribution.”

Bristol Gin has actively courted its reputation for being ‘edgy.”

In 2018 the distillery generated controversy after releasing a 75% ABV vodka named Novichok, a chemical weapon developed in Russia that almost killed former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter.

We only wish that this incident was an outlier, but unfortunately there’s also this…

EVIL GENIUS HEAD BREWER FIRED OVER CONTROVERSIAL INSTAGRAM POST