"Border wall" drink promotion at Calif. bar sparks scathing backlash
DANA POINT, Calif. -- Outside of Hennessey's Tavern in Dana Point, a city south of Los Angeles, locals were surprised to hear about a Cinco de Mayo promotion-turned-controversy.
On Friday, the bar put up an inflatable climbing wall, and those who scaled it received a "green card" for a free drink, CBS Los Angeles reports.
On social media, the backlash was scathing. Comments blasted the promotion as insensitive, racist and catering to stereotypes.
Comments also demanded that patrons boycott the bar.
The tavern's owner, Paul Hennessey, responded on Facebook, saying it was a misunderstanding.
"Our intentions were to create a dialogue and show how ridiculous that it is to spend tens of millions of dollars to build a wall and even infer that Mexico foot some or the entire bill and have their citizens build it," the post said.
"This event obviously struck a chord with many of you out there and you and a number of you did not understand our intent," it said. "I encourage all of you to take the time that you have spent posting on social media to spend an equal or greater amount of time writing your congressman or the president himself to express your concerns just as I have."
A message from Paul Hennessey: I would like to thank everyone for your comments about our climbing wall. Our intentions...
Posted by Hennessey's Tavern on Saturday, May 6, 2017
One customer said that it sounded like a good idea to bring some extra money in for the bar but "was in poor taste."
One employee who asked not to be identified questioned the statement, saying that the bar handed out mustaches and some customers chanted "build the wall."
The promotion does have some defenders. Some comments online called it funny and accused critics as lacking a sense of humor.