New York’s Off Key Tikki Bar is under fire from the left for making an allegedly “racist” joke on their Cinco de Mayo ad.
The ad invited people to “join us for a little taste of Mexico (might as well before the whole country immigrates here!)”
Michael Bruemmer, the owner of the bar, maintains that he was just playing around and did not mean any harm.
“It was a tongue in cheek attempt at humor,” Bruemmer told News 12. “Probably wasn’t the smartest thing I have ever said, but it was not certainly meant with any malice.”
Leftists are now calling for people to boycott the small business over the nine-word joke, even though it has been removed from the website.
Activists are also spamming their social media and Yelp with negative reviews.
The Yelp page was hit so hard that when you visit there page on there a pop-up states, “this business recently received increased public attention resulting in an influx of people posting their views to this page, so we have temporarily disabled the ability to post here as we work to investigate the content. While racism has no place on Yelp and we unequivocally reject racism or discrimination in any form, all reviews on Yelp must reflect an actual first-hand consumer experience (even if that means disabling the ability for users to express points of view we might agree with).”
“Horrible place! Not only is the establishment run down and dirty, (if you actually look and aren’t too drunk to miss it) but the owner is also insanely rude and RACIST!!! Not only do they take from literally every single culture but they promote racism and this disgusting establishment. The drinks are disgusting you’d think a 10 year old made them. And in order for them to have good food they need seasoning which clearly they know nothing about. Not surprised. If I could them 0 stars I would!” a woman named “Juliana M.” from Commack, NY, wrote.
Another person named “Gabrielle R.” from East Moriches, NY, wrote that “there should be no tolerance for racism in America ! This establishment is trash and should be ashamed of themselves and shut down. LATINO customers do NOT give them business and all others please stand in solidarity and boycott this run down establishment. Please refer to picture attached,” and included a photo of the flyer.
Prior to the spam attack, the bar and restaurant appeared to have mostly very good reviews.