A UK gin company, Bristol Dry Gin, was slammed by social media users for using the violent protests currently engulfing the United States to celebrate and promote their product's "high flammability", adding the controversial phrase reused by US President Donald Trump in his tweet: "when looting starts, shooting starts".
The Bristol Dry Gin tweet, now deleted, read: "When the shooting starts the looting starts. Voted No.1 gin by rioters for its complex botanical mix and high flammability".
Despite offering apologies for the post, the firm has been lambasted by netizens, who were shocked at the tweet, asking "how that happened", demanding an explanation and not mincing words.
Twitter users did not back off on their rage, slamming the brand for sliding the name of the product into the so-called non-apology in an apparent effort to stick to a PR strategy.
Users suggested that the brand, in business since 2017, might be more sorry about the backlash rather than the offense it caused.
Netizens stormed on the brand for not offering an explanation on the origin of the offensive PR campaign, noting that this was not an accident, but a planned posting accompanied by a photoshoot specifically created for the tweet.
The ill-conceived PR attempt comes as anti-police brutality protests have resulted in violence and arson around the country - a wave that started after the killing of George Floyd, a 46-year-old African-American, who was killed while being arrested. The white police officer, Derek Chauvin, pressed Floyd's neck with a knee for over 8 minutes, blocking the victim's breath and ignoring repeated please to allow him to breathe.
Chauvin has since been arrested and charged with third-degree murder. Official autopsy results later confirmed that Floyd's death was an asphyxia homicide caused by cardiopulmonary arrest.