Did the management at “Black Rifle Coffee Company” – the gleefully un-PC, over-the-top God Guns ‘n Guts-oriented, veteran owned coffee company – go “woke”?
[CEO Evan Hafer] quickly debunked the notion that he made derogatory remarks about BRCC’s customers or conservatives and then proceeded to explain how the New York Times deliberately twisted his words and took them out of context. According to Hafer, his conversation with the NYT Magazine reporter was in the context of racism and anti-Semitism in America in light of Hafer being the target of an organized attack last year because of “my last name and my heritage.”
“We were purely discussing that,” Hafer says, and he was not conflating those groups with conservatives.
“The New York Times, as we know, the chances of them being objective were fairly slim, but we gave them the opportunity,” he added. He went on to mention veterans issues he hoped to bring attention to. But, unfortunately, the New York Times chose to go with “the salacious headline” about the company instead.
Hafer reiterated that racists and anti-Semites have no place in his company.
“I really need you guys to get the facts straight on this, which is: There’s no chance in hell I’m gonna talk s–t about conservatives to the New York Times. It’s just not gonna happen.”
You live and you learn. That’s my take.
Steven Kruiser is a little less forgiving…of Hafer:
How long do the mainstream media hacks have to keep exposing themselves as frothing-at-the-mouth haters of conservatives before conservatives get it? If Hafer truly thought that the Times was going to give him a fair shake and that this would be a good marketing opportunity, then he’s too monumentally stupid to be around anything that isn’t toddler-proofed. It’s like walking into a biker bar while wearing a tuxedo and being surprised you got your a** kicked after you called all of them wusses. It’s just super easy to predict how some things are going to work out.
Conservatives shouldn’t be treating The New York Times and its ilk with any kind of courtesy. Unless you want to be a turncoat, it’s not going to work out well for you. Don’t hang out with an enemy who spends all day pointing a knife at you then turn away and act surprised when you get stabbed in the back.
And here’s the most important lesson for conservatives: don’t pull the knife out, hand it back to your enemy, then turn away again.
Well, Kruiser’s gonna kruis. At the risk of giving Hafer too much credit – something I tend to be wont to do – he’s a businessman from Utah, not breezy media analyst; there’s a first time for everyone.
Not saying that stands up – Black Rifle is pretty savvy, generally.
Further evidence for my eternal advice – if you’re a conservative, any conservative, and the mainstream media are interviewing you for any reason, record the interaction. Every single time. If you’re misquoted, wrenched out of context, played for a patsy – as is likely in many corners of the media these days – you’ll have evidence.
Uh-huh, and their lie reaches 6,000,000 while your truth reaches 600,000…and they know that going in.
I had read something about how BRCC is/was on the verge of going public and being in the NY Times might be part of the scheme to make the company more interesting to big money investors and investment houses. In NYC. Who read the Times.
Dunno, but Kruiser’s comments seem appropriate. I will also say that I agree with Greg: you cannot win in an interview with MSM. Even a recording only helps in a possible legal retaliation. You are better off not accepting an interview at all.
Going public seems like a bad idea if they want to remain a “conservative” label. The Lefties will do everything they can to boycott it and get it banned from corporate use.
The model for how to handle the press is how Tim Dillon responded to a NYT “journalist” seeking comments of Joe Rogan.
However, that in my humble opinion, was too wordy. It is why I am one of the only people in America who still use a Bell Model 500 Series telephone.
The Model 500 is better known as the black rotary desk phone.
Constructed of thick molded plastic over a sturdy steel chassis, the phone is all but indestructible and the perfect device for playing out the following modern drama:
Ring! Ring!
“Hello?”
“Hi, this is Maria Marquez-Wooster-Smith-Messinger from MPR, I just want to gather a few comments about…”
KA-BOOM!!!!
The last line contains the delightful sound a Model 500 headset makes as you slam it onto its cradle.
The phone is so tough that you can toss in a few more KA-BOOM!!, KA-BOOM!!, KA-BOOM!!‘s just for emphasis.
The whole thing is a bit of a category error. To acknowledge the conservative wing is full of racists, anti-semites, bigots, and other social misfits (or as Mitch calls them, “stand up guys that I don’t always agree with”) is not to “go woke” when there are no other accompanying leftward position changes. Rather it’s what’s currently called “David French-ism”.
The really sad part is Liberals use the “out of context” lie so frequently, it poisons the mind when a Conservative says it, even if true.
The technique described has been frequently used by 60 Minutes-type shows. Tape six hours of conversation using three cameras, cut-and-paste to make a final version which supports the journalist’s pre-written conclusion.
Example:
Question from Hour 1: “Do you consider yourself a White Supremacist racist?” Answer: “No, I hate those people. I’m nothing like them.”
Question from Hour 3: “Do you have any Black friends?” Answer: “Sure, lots of them – James, Richard, Chuck – I have lots of Black friends.”
Tape shown on air: Question: “Do you have any Black friends?” Answer: “No, I hate those people.”
Even if you have an original tape of your own and can prove the lie, it’s exactly as Greg says – their lie goes around the world in an instant while your Truth is still banned from Facebook because it’s ‘misinformation.’
Don’t talk to the media. Or the cops. Or the feds. The momentary ego stroke from 15 minutes of fame isn’t worth the damage they will do to your reputation.
I once had that malnourished neurotic bundle of nerves called Esme Murphy rush into my cube with cameras rolling and lights glaring.
She thrust a microphone in my face and began to utter words….
I simply pointed toward the corner office.
That was thirty years ago, and you have to wonder why her conscience has yet to put her down.
Maybe she made a Faustian bargain with the devil.
If that is the case, you got to give the lady her due, she got the better end of the deal.
“David Frenchism” is intense interest in sinfull actions of everyone not named David French.
^ It represents something larger than that.
So you mean even if you have the full statement and context recorded, you still can’t say, “There are good people on both sides”?
A friend of mine was lead guitarist for Prince in the early days (think “Rising Sun Bandana Guy”). When Prince died a major publication asked for an interview. My friend (who is actually very conservative) agreed because he wanted to put some truth out there. One of the things he wanted to make clear was, “The Prince I know would never have used, or condoned using, drugs.” He said it matter-of-factly. The headline that resulted? “Friend shocked at Prince’s drug abuse.”
If you choose to be interviewed by the press, what you want to do is remember whether your state is one party consent (you can unilaterally decide to record the conversation) or two party consent. Minnesota is one party consent, for reference, and after a certain number of times that the press gets exposed for distorting quotes, they’ll get the picture.
One caution; the press is generally deferred to by the courts, so if they record you in a two party consent state without your consent, you are generally out of luck. So be aware.
Going public seems like a bad idea if they want to remain a “conservative” label.
Disagree. Econ 201 teaches this is what you have to do if you want to keep growing fast enough to keep up with demand. What you are saying is that to be a conservative business you need to avoid Wall Street. That is not good business sense. Unless there was a conservative alternative to Wall Street.
But Kruiser is absolutely correct, what was Hafer expecting? Damned if you do damned if you don’t.
David French-ism. Very good. I knew that grifter’s archetype would eventually be useful here even tho’ I’m a bit ashamed I didn’t realize it myself.
bike’s comment about state regulations and recordings validates the never talk to the MSM. Ever. You can’t win.
Perhaps our response to a media request should be the same as our response to the police (per Joel R.): “I do not consent to a search, and I want to speak with my attorney.”
Repeat as often as needed.
Yes, NW. I think it may be worthwhile to mention that journalists, scum that most of them are, will generally – Greg’s story excepted – try to flatter their way into an interview and make all sorts of promises. The flattery is BS and the promises will not be kept.
Black Rifle’s coffee is okay, but not great. Maybe you need a Navy CPO from engineering to brew it up right. And the customers, well, let’s say most of them would benefit from sticking with decaf.
John Kraephammer on July 23, 2021 at 8:44 am said:
^ It represents something larger than that.
The term was coined by Sohrab Amari.
https://www.firstthings.com/web-exclusives/2019/05/against-david-french-ism
For an special forces guy, Hafer seemed to lack “situational awareness.”
Just saying “no comment” when asked to condemn people who might be his customers wouldn’t have helped, if they couldn’t anything to twist, they would have simply not printed the story.
^ I realize that. So? It’s an articulated critique, and more than David French holds that critique, which is to say its not David French being self indulgent. Kevin Williamson holds it, for example, and I bet most people here think Kevin Williamson is awesome.
How out of context could “I’m a man without a party now” be such that you think your brand needs distance from racists, bigots, and social misfits? That’s the big Hafer NYT Mag quote. And he’s talking about Rittenhouse, the 1/6ers, the anti-BLM proud boy protesters, and the gajillion anti-semite DMs he got in response to PR responding for those guys wearing his Black Rifle merch.
But really, in fairness to Hafer as a conservative… He thinks he’s calling out a narrow band on the right, and that he should be able to, and that he’s not going full David French. The problem is he’s got Andy Ngo and Nick Fuentes latching on to call it “woke” and gin up a food fight, and that the misanthrope band on the right isn’t that narrow, and that 1/6 and Rittenhouse in particular are conservative totems now, and that a lot of conservatives think Andy Ngo and Nick Fuentes are legit conservative voices.
Emery, my dad was in the navy, and had some stories to tell about the coffee they drank.
Lets just say that if they ran out of paint remover or hydraulic fluid they had a ready replacement.
Never tried Black Rifle, I just buy the cheap stuff, besides I drink tea more than coffee now. Pure Leaf unsweetened, good stuff.
I bet most people here think Kevin Williamson is awesome
As far as I’m concerned, you could not be more wrong.
^ fair of you to say that, OK.
Go public..?… eye roll emoji.
This is not a coffee company. It’s a marketing company that has a piece of insight about brand loyalty, and at that, brand loyalty among people (…men) who have Molon Labe bumper stickers and blue line punisher avatars. That’s what the logo and the name are for, to get guys with Molon Labe bumper stickers and blue line punisher avatars to buy their hats and t-shirts and coffee. That’s all it is.
Obviously you can build enough of an enterprise around that to earn nice livings for say 6 executives, and also employ a few dozen other people in SLC. But they ain’t going public. And that’s just business.
Their consumer base, the molon labe and punishisher guys, have a high correlation to misanthropy and social misfitism. It was a strategic mistake to insult those guys, for sure.
Were I a young man trying to impress a lady I’d give her a bracing Kevin Williamson talk about how the vote is a privilege women must earn, rather than a right.
For mood music I’d put on my audiobook of Sebastian Gorka reading Hillbilly Elegy.
^ I actually love Kevin Williamson myself
Oh, noes, the blog bullies have both shown up and they’re calling names and jacking threads.
Its not at all a thread jack. Everything is on topic.
I’m a big Williamson fan. Which is not to say I agree with everything he writes, but I agree with most of the principles behind it.
You have to go a lot further to find that with French, he says obliquely.
To acknowledge the conservative wing is full of racists, anti-semites, bigots, and other social misfits…
…is a collective slander and current lefty chanting point.
There is nothing “conservative” about any of those things. Not in the Buckley/Kemp/Reagan/Friedman sense of the term. Which is the one that matters.
It’s not slanderous such that it would represent reality. Hafer got anti-semitic DMs numbering in the low thousands. That’s his experience, and its significant in numbers and as an anecdote. You have racists in your comment section Mitch. Their presence isn’t an anomaly.
But right… I accept that, that racism is not conservative. Thing is there’s a venn overlap where conservatives racists / bigots / social misfits are significant.
Eventually, JK, most of the threads you comment on will deteriorate into a j’accuse in which you, from your oh-so special position as an Elite Conservative, call out the “conservative wing” as being full of misanthropes, social misfits, racists, bigots, anti-semites, etc. I call that a threadjack.
Yeah kraphead, I so TOTES believe people when they say they get so many death threats.
Totes.
So EFFING tired this is, Repubs are this, that, and the other thing.
Tiresome.
Hafer had to PR manage “conservatives” wearing his merch doing some provocative things that made the news. Rittenhouse, the Proud Boys, the zip tier guy in the capital on 1/6.
Ya’ll go ahead, make the argument that obviates their racism and social misfitism. Conservativism isn’t racist by definition is fine. They “aren’t conservatives” doesn’t work, and at that point the racism problem is a reality.
Its completely pertinent to the post.
Hey, Crap, Tlaib and Omar called me to tell you they are NOT republicans nor conservatives! Shall we count the anti-semites and racists in Congress and see which party has most? And by extension, since they were elected by the majority and represent their constituents, your math is so fucking wrong, you are projecting into space, never mind on this thread.
’cause racism is the worst thing you can accuse anyone of…other than perhaps being a communist.
But then that’s the difference between a conservative and a liberal.
When you call a conservative a racist, they know they are being insulted, but when you call a liberal a communist, they are never quite sure. Gosh, maybe they’re being complimented.
JPA you’re third there, ahead of AllenS and Kinlaw. 3rd from the bottom.
Racism is some combination of wrong and counter productive, and conservatism’s baggage as it pursuits whatever its pursuing…. low taxes and laissez faire economics and a slim welfare state, whatever.
Yeah, “communism” doesn’t sting as much to people pursuing egalitarianism to one degree or another, good, bad, or indifferent. Ya know, tough shitsky and if my uncle was a woman she’d be my aunt. Do you have a point there? There is actually quite a bit of sensitivity within D politics to communism / socialism labels.
JPA you’re third there, ahead of AllenS and Kinlaw. 3rd from the bottom.
Racism is some combination of wrong and counter productive, and conservatism’s baggage as it pursuits whatever its pursuing…. low taxes and laissez faire economics and a slim welfare state, whatever.
Yeah, “communism” doesn’t sting as much to people pursuing egalitarianism to one degree or another, good, bad, or indifferent. Ya know, tough shitsky and if my uncle was a woman she’d be my aunt. Do you have a point there? There is actually quite a bit of sensitivity within D politics to the communism labels.
WTF crap? You did not get to the throne on time and had to blast your diarrhea all over the thread?
Exactly!!!
Because the left is full of Maoists, Khmer Rouge adherents and SLA types who would love to implement Che style firing squads for anyone with the temerity to disagree with their precise vision of utopia.
These scumbag (and they permeate the left) are every bit as vile as the KKK, maybe even more so given the body count, but the left won’t admit that and tries to deflect from their own vileness by cries of RRRRAAAACCCCIIISSMM!
In other words, Mr. Kraephammer, clean your own house before running your fingers over the window sills of your neighbors.
Back when I was a member of the DFL, I admire their heroes like HHH who did clean up and kick out the commie scum.
Now they elect them to congress.
Its not my house, I’m not a Democrat
Okay, I’ll bite.
What house do you live in, or are you homeless?
I’m a never Trumper. I voted Dole, Bush, Bush, McCain, Romney. I have some Democrat instincts aside from that. I voted for Kanye to test if my vote would show up in the totals in my village. It did, 1 vote for Kanye.
The reason there is no racism today is it died out years ago. People learned that mistrusting people of other races was counter-productive so they gave it up. Societies which engaged in racist behavior collapsed of un-wokeness and were immediately conqured by their more progressive neighbors.
Examples of societies which abandoned racism to survive include the Egyptian dynasties, Roman Empire, Mongol Hordes, Great China, and all seven time zones covered by Russia. Their racially balanced multi-cultural societies were paragons of diversity which was what made them so strong and was the reason why they survived so long.
America just needs more time to strike the correct balance. We’ll get there.
So then why all the angst concerning race?
Race is little more than a tool of the left and you seem to be helping them sharpen it.
In a calm world, a thoughtful discussion on race would be positive – but we do not live in that world. We live in a place where the left is seeking to destroy our world with grievances, real and imagined and once it is destroyed, it is their hope that the worst of them will emerge in positions of power.
It is a hundred year old script.
The problem with Williamson is that he is more of a Libertarian than a conservative these days. This leads to conflicts with his professed Catholicism.
Some of the more anti-Trump writers at National Review have done the same, stressing economic libertarianism (aka “chamber of commerce” republicanism) over social conservatism (because of those icky Trump-supporting evangelicals) or nationalistic conservatism (because of icky Trump).
The problem with Williamson is that he’s an elitist a55hole. Much like another commenter here.
David Frenchism is not condemning bigots and racists. Trump condemned bigotry and racism. For God’s sake, his grandfather was an immigrant, his mother was an immigrant, he married two foreigners, and his daughter and grandchildren are Jews.
David Frenchism (as defined by Amari) is willingness to compromise with, or even surrender to, the rabidly anti-Christian element of the Left.