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(Image credit: YouTube / Sławomir Mentze)
This wasn’t just a stupid mistake by the Mentzen brewery and the video ad with a black bartender washing glasses and the Confederate flag didn’t help either.
Here’s what we know…
The Mentzen brewery in Poland has been overwhelmed by complaints over a video ad of a black barman drinking a beer called “White Lives Matter” in a US-themed bar reports the Daily Mail…
“It features a black barman cleaning glasses with the camera cutting to symbols of America’s Deep South, including a Confederate flag. The camera cuts back to the barman before a customer slides him a bottle of the White IPA – a light-tasting ale generally marketed at people who don’t like the taste of beer.
The barman takes a sip and declares: ‘This is what I needed.’
‘The beer exploits the death of George Floyd and the racist backlash to the global Black Lives Matter movement.” Rafal Pankowski from the Never Again Association explained to the Daily Mail…
“By getting a black person to drink this disgusting beer for promotional purposes, they mock the victims of racism,” Pankowski added.“The producer plays with racist history and symbolism of the US South.”
The social media backlash against the brewery was swift and unforgiving. One user wrote, “No excuse for such overt and virulent racism – not in 2021, and not ever.”
The brewery, which is owned by right-wing Polish politician Slawomir Mentzen and describes White IPA Matters as a combination of ‘black tea” (ouch) and hops, did not return American Craft Beer’s request for comment, but then what could they say, the commercial says it all.
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(All image credits: YouTube / Sławomir Mentze)
