How influential is gay rights to a beer company? Obviously pretty influential considering Boston Beer Company, maker of Samuel Adams, publicly announced that they would not be participating in this year’s St. Patrick’s Day parade in Boston.
The parade organizers, Allied Veterans War Council, announced that they are not allowing LGBTQ groups from marching. In February they announced that LGBTQ groups could march as long as they were not promoting their orientation. MassEquality, the LGBTQ advocacy group who put together the march apparently lied about the number of participants who would be marching in the parade, which, in turn, made the Allied War Veterans Council compose a ridiculous press release to MassEquality, which is also shown on the South Boston Parade website.
“We will not allow anyone to express harmful or inappropriate messages. This was a decision we made for the good of this parade. Keep in mind, we are approached by all types of groups. Some of which try to destroy the integrity of not only this parade, but our faith, this town and our Country. And to those we say, “No!, stay home, Not in my town… We invite all to join us to celebrate this historic event, but we must maintain our guidelines to insure the enjoyment and public safety of our spectators.”
And, as they should, MassEquality wrote back, “We are quite disappointed that the Allied War Veterans Council will not lets us fly our colors as we march” (Boston.com).
In response to the two groups’ controversy, Boston Beer Co. from the Washington Times article stated, “We were hopeful that both sides of this issue would be able to come to an agreement that would allow everyone, regardless of orientation, to participate in the parade. But given the current status of the negotiations, we realize this may not be possible.”
Not only did Boston Beer Co. remove their sponsorship, but other corporate heads such as Gillette, Heineken, and the Westin Boston Waterfront Hotel did as well.
The South Boston Parade website listed its supporters, but now reads “We’re updating our supporters, thank you for your patience.”
In a PR perspective, I’m impressed by the Allied Veterans War Council’s press release, but disappointed by their stance. I understand that they want to keep the public safe to “insure enjoyment,” but how reckless can a group of LGBTQ veterans be during a St. Patty’s Day march in the middle of Boston?
It upsets me how unrealistic a group, in charge of putting together a St. Patrick’s Day parade, can be. I doubt they will see the support of Boston Beer Co., Gillette, or many other beer companies, for future parades put together by the Allied War Veterans Council.
Check out the many articles I used for this blog post:
http://money.cnn.com/2014/03/14/pf/heineken-sam-adams-parades/index.html
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/mar/14/sam-adams-beer-brewer-refuses-parade-wont-allow-ga/
Shameless PR (COM 475) 