Dallas Cowboys has inked a deal with Black Rifle Coffee Company, and this was announced earlier this week. However, the partnership was met with heavy criticism, and the American football team was slammed on social media.
As per Fox Business, many people did not like the news of the deal, especially because it was announced just a day after seven people were killed at a Fourth of July parade in Highland Park, Illinois. The lone gunman in the mass shooting, who was identified as Robert E. Crimo III, also injured more than two dozen parade-goers.
Now Dallas Cowboys is being criticized because Black Rifle Coffee is a gun-themed store. People felt that it was not appropriate for the team to announce its deal with this kind of company after a gunman killed so many innocent people and injured others.
The coffee house was also founded by a U.S. Army veteran named Evan Hafer, and the BRCC has menu blends that were named "AK-47 Espresso," "Murdered Out Coffee Roast," and "Silencer Smooth." Some people assumed that with Black Rifle Coffee Co.'s theme and menu names, it supports guns. Thus, many of them did not welcome the new Dallas Cowboys deal.
The Cowboys posted a tweet to welcome BRCC to the team and called it "America's coffee," but with the timing, many labeled the post as "tone-deaf." The team did not respond to the backlash on its new partnership.
?#CowboysNation, please welcome America’s Coffee to America’s Team.
— Dallas Cowboys (@dallascowboys) July 5, 2022
We are celebrating America’s birthday all week long by giving away ✌️ tickets to a #DallasCowboys home game & a ☝️-year subscription to @blckriflecoffee! Click here https://t.co/hUQTRllFe0 to learn more.☕️?⭐️ pic.twitter.com/iFep5BKVZt
In any case, it was said that the Black Rifle was built by Hafer with providing support to veterans as one of its tenets. It was also noted that Cowboys Dallas donated $400,000 to the victims and survivors of the school shooting in Uvalde, Texas so there are fans who expressed support for the team's collaboration with the coffee company.
CNBC reported that Black Rifle Coffee issued a statement regarding its deal with the Dallas Cowboys and revealed that the partnership had been in the works for a long time now, and they timed the news with the Independence Day holiday. However, the company representative reportedly declined to respond when asked if it considered delaying the announcement since the shootings happened.
"BRCC is proud to partner with the Dallas Cowboys, who are strongly committed to our mission of supporting veterans, first responders, and America's men and women in uniform," the BRCC spokesperson said. "The long-planned announcement was timed to coincide with the Independence Day holiday - America's Team. America's Coffee. America's Birthday."