Black Rifle Coffee gave an interview last week with The New York Times, in which it seems like they decided to attack their own customers in a bizarre attempt to distance themselves from their conservative brand image.
According to the interview, Black Rifle Coffee has done well by building their brand as the counter-culture coffee of right-wingers all across the country:
"In 2015, the company’s revenue was $1 million. By 2019, that figure had grown to $82 million. Last year, the company did $163 million in sales," the NYT reported.
And this was done with ads like the two quotes posted below as examples, both from 2017:
"Instead of worrying about microaggressions and which bathroom I’m going to use, I believe it’s important to support the people that actually serve our country."
"I’ve heard people say patriotism is racism. Well, as a veteran-owned company, we give zero s**ts about your opinion."
Contrast this with Hafer's recent comments in the NYT interview, which have critics scratching their heads:
- "I’m a man without a party now."
- "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 f**king detrimental. And it’s detrimental to the company. And it’s detrimental, ultimately, to my mission."
- "You can’t let sections of your customers hijack your brand and say, 'This is who you are.' It’s like, no, no, we define that."
- "I hate racist, Proud-Boyish people. Like, I’ll pay them to leave my customer base. I would gladly chop all of those people out of my f**king customer database and pay them to get the f**k out."
There is strong speculation among many that these types of statements may erode Black Rifle's hard-won customer base's loyalty. People being made of the NYT interview have been quick to voice their discontent on social media:
In addition to being a bunch of virtue-signalling disloyal jerks, Black Rifle Coffee makes really crappy coffee
— Will Chamberlain (@willchamberlain) July 19, 2021
It's not like Black Rifle doesn't have lots of up-and-coming competition either. Right Wing Brew, in its own turn, is hoping to capitalize on what they see as a huge blunder on the part of Black Rifle. Carl Higbie, a Navy Seal, author, and host of a show on Newsmax, plans on aggressively getting people to switch over for his brand, which has no problem continuing to support its conservative base.