The Dallas Cowboys have received backlash after announcing a partnership with a Utah-based coffee company.
The announcement came one day after a shooting at a Fourth of July parade near Chicago, and just over a month after the Cowboys announced a $400,000 donation to support those affected by the Uvalde, Texas, school shooting, where 21 people died, according to The Associated Press.
The news: The football team announced the partnership with Black Rifle Coffee on Tuesday, as well as a giveaway that includes tickets to a Cowboys game and a year subscription to the coffee company.
- “#CowboysNation, please welcome America’s Coffee to America’s Team,” the team tweeted. “We are celebrating America’s birthday all week long by giving away (two) tickets to a #DallasCowboys home game & a (one)-year subscription to @blckriflecoffee!”
About Black Rifle Coffee: Black Rifle Coffee is a veteran-owned company based out of Salt Lake City, with coffee flavors such as “AK-47 Espresso Blend” and “Murdered Out Coffee Roast.”
- “We develop our explosive roast profiles with the same mission focus we learned as military members serving this great country and we are committed to supporting veterans, law enforcement, and first responders. With every purchase you make, we give back,” the company’s mission statement says.
- Black Rifle Coffee was founded in 2014 by former U.S. Army Green Beret Evan Hafer, with the intention to “serve coffee and culture to people who love America,” according to the mission statement.
- The company has a goal of hiring 10,000 veterans and helping “other service-members successfully transition from the military to entrepreneurship.” It claims to provide help to veterans who want to start a business of their own.
Mixed reaction: After announcing the partnership, the football team received criticism on Twitter over the gun-themed partnership.
- One response to the Cowboys’ tweet read: “just 18 hours after multiple mass shootings on Independence Day, and just weeks after a bunch of kids were shot to death at a school in your state, you’re partnering with this?” The tweet included a picture of the gun-related coffee flavor names.
- However, another user responded to the announcement: “I feel a bunch of you people just read the name of the coffee and got mad over the name of it and don’t even know anything about the brand! It’s a veteran owned company.”
- One tweet included a picture of Kyle Rittenhouse wearing a Black Rifle T-shirt, with the caption: “@blckriflecoffee and their American hero. Cute.”