‘I f*cked up’ — Stone Brewing boss forced to apologise twice after consent tweet went viral

A US brewery has been forced to apologise twice after one of its tweets — intending to be about beer — sparked outrage for an innuendo suggesting that “only wussies ask for consent.”

Beer (Photo: Wiki)

Arrogant Bastard — the somewhat ironically-named Californian brand from Stone Brewing Co., posted a joke on the social network earlier this week providing detailed instructions on how to “wash away the ordinariness of your day.”

Hi @StoneBrewing @StoneGreg – I know your @ArrogantBastard branding is supposed to be cheeky/mean/macho, but I am dissapointed and troubled to see this type of joking about consent. pic.twitter.com/GuqXYvpA3r

— Carla Jean Lauter (@beerbabe) February 28, 2018

It read: “Put me in your mouth, make an ‘mmm’ sound, swallow. Express appreciation and ask permission to do it again.

“Hint: only wussies do the ‘ask permission’ part.”

The tweet, which has since been deleted, was picked up by US beer writer Carla Jean Lauter, after which it quickly went viral in the brewing world.

“I know your @ArrogantBastard branding is supposed to be cheeky/mean/macho,” she said, “but I am dissapointed and troubled to see this type of joking about consent.”

Arrogant Bastard was quick to respond to the feedback, posting another tweet which said the beer brand “can acknowledge a bad move.”

In another tweet, the brewery said it was “seriously gutted” that the flippant reference to beer was associated with “a much wider and problematic issue in our society.”

“I fucked up,” it added. “No other way about it. I’m as red as it gets. I couldn’t possibly be more sincere about that.”

But many fans of the drinks maker were unimpressed by the apology.

Columnist Robin LeBlanc called the joke “utterly shameful and dumb. And I call bullsh*t on intent. The person knew exactly what it sounded like.”

Now, Arrogant Bastard’s msifire has already had business repercussions. Block & Bottle, a butcher and craft beer shop in Gateshead, UK, announced yesterday it has cancelled a planned tap takeover with Stone Brewing “in light of last night’s tweet.”

In light of last nights tweet by @ArrogantBastard, we have decided to cancel next Thursday’s @StoneBrewingUK tap takeover. We have taken this decision as we are not happy promoting any brewery which condones a culture rape and sexual violence.

— Block & Bottle (@BlocknBottle) March 1, 2018

“We have taken this decision as we are not happy promoting any brewery which condones a culture rape and sexual violence,” it added.

Responding to the fallout from the joke, Stone Brewing co-founder Greg Kich posted a statement on Arrogant’s Twitter page, apologising again for the “inappropriate tweet: and insisting that neither Stone nor Arrogant “condone sexual violence or misogyny in any way.”

A message from Executive Chairman & co-founder Greg Koch: pic.twitter.com/L4LTKuFZl2

— Arrogant Bastard (@ArrogantBastard) March 2, 2018

“For the forseeable future,” he added, “a female member of the company will be handling all tweets from Arrogant Bastard, effective immediately.”

The Twitter spat comes after dozens of craft brewers have been called out for discrimination and sexist marketing in recent months, leading industry bodies such as the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA), Portman Group, and the Society of Independent Brewers (SIBA) to launch their own panel discussions and revised Codes of Practice to address the issue.