In case you haven’t heard yet, Deep Ellum Brewing Co. has been facing a firing squad for its Dallas Blonde beer slogan, “Goes Down Easy.” The beer, released back in July 2012, has had the tagline on promotional materials and the actual beer can since 2012 (thanks for pointing this out, Liz), but that didn’t seem to cause an uproar until earlier this month.
After DEBC posted a Facebook photo of its new, bright pink delivery van on October 8, criticism started rolling in. It’s been a cuss storm. A woman named Genevieve Cato (a political blogger) wrote that the slogan “fuels the acceptability of rape culture in our society.” Other people have been coming to the brewery’s defense ever since FOX News, The Dallas Morning News, and a bunch of other blogs have covered the story. “Stick to your guns!!!!” wrote a Facebook commenter. “It’s about time we all stood up to the PC crowd. How do we go from a little adult humor in advertising to a “rape culture”? If your product was in my market and you make a stand against this PC BS, i would buy it just to support your stance.”
This DMN article that was published yesterday brought to my attention a blog post written by DEBC owner John Reardon last week. In it, he says he’ll be “removing the slogan from the van.” (Putting it on a can is one thing, but on the side of a van, where it’s impossible to ignore, is another issue entirely,” he writes.) I think it’s meant to be an apology (… I guess?), but hey. I’ll let you judge it for yourself. Apparently, “shame on you” has become a really popular phrase. I thought I only saw it in SideDish comments, but no. It’s everywhere.
Opinions? Leave them at the bottom.
Sorry for that, but…
If you were being an asshole, got called an asshole, then accept being an asshole and move on. For the few who were trying to have a productive conversation, I apologize for getting caught up in the moment. I appreciate your comments.
I saw every critic of this campaign as if they were likening it to rape culture. It took a minute, but I then began to realize that some people were just offended by the joke. That I can understand.
As we’re all adults (if not, you should have already been directedhere), let’s go ahead and bring the innuendo front and center – it’s a literal description of the beer with a blowjob joke. A double entendre. And yes, I find that funny.
What’s not funny is how that’s been interpreted to promoting rape culture. If anyone is to blame for promoting such thoughts, it should be those interpreting the phrase to that level. Shame on you.
