A coffee company that served up a dash of politics with its dark roast is now putting some distance between itself and the customers it used to make millions, according to a published report.
A feature in The New York Times Magazine paints top executives of the Black Rifle Coffee Company as saying that some elements of America’s conservative political spectrum are not anyone with whom the company wants to be affiliated.
“You can’t let sections of your customers hijack your brand and say, ‘This is who you are,’” said Mat Best the company’s executive vice president. “It’s like, no, no, we define that.”
Company CEO Evan Hafer said that last year, when the company said it was not an active supporter of Kyle Rittenhouse, who has been charged with murder over the shooting of rioters in Kenosha, Wisconsin, last year, it was a watershed moment because it separated the company from customers he was happy to be rid of.
Rittenhouse had worn a shirt with the company’s name upon it in pictures that were widely distributed.
“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.”
“It’s such a repugnant group of people.”
The executives behind @blckriflecoffee, a coffee and lifestyle brand hugely popular with conservatives, has some choice words to describe part of its customer base. https://t.co/BxTpq0kfQY pic.twitter.com/mbdrBSpwGs
— Andy Ngô (@MrAndyNgo) July 16, 2021
Hafer, speaking of elements of his far-right customer base, said racism “really pisses me off.” – READ MORE
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