The Dallas Cowboys were derided as tone-deaf after the football team announced a partnership with Black Rifle Coffee, a gun-themed roaster that sells blends such as the "AK-47 Espresso" and "Murdered Out."
The team announced its new partnership on Tuesday, July 5, just one day after a lone gunman opened fire on an Independence Day parade in Highland Park, Illinois taking seven lives and injuring more than 40 others.
It posted the news on Twitter, encouraging social media followers to "please welcome America's Coffee to America's Team."
\u201c\ud83d\udd0a#CowboysNation, please welcome America\u2019s Coffee to America\u2019s Team.\n\nWe are celebrating America\u2019s birthday all week long by giving away \u270c\ufe0f tickets to a #DallasCowboys home game & a \u261d\ufe0f-year subscription to @blckriflecoffee! Click here https://t.co/hUQTRllFe0 to learn more.\u2615\ufe0f\ud83c\udfc8\u2b50\ufe0f\u201d— Dallas Cowboys (@Dallas Cowboys) 1657033202
Black Rifle Coffee's corporate image is built on its conservative politics and supporting veterans and much of its staff is comprised of former members of the United States military.
But the company courted controversy by openly supporting the policies of former President Donald Trump, including in a since-deleted blog post in which its founders supported Trump's proposed immigration ban on citizens of Muslim-majority countries.
Black Rifle Coffee has been advertised by Kenosha shooter Kyle Rittenhouse, who has been photographed wearing the company's merchandise, as well as by multiple people who participated in the attack against the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021, the day a mob of Trump's supporters attacked the nation's seat of government on the false premise that the 2020 general election had been stolen.
While the company has attempted to denounce the insurrectionists, its founder, Evan Hafer, has stressed that he does not believe that those who attacked the Capitol posed an actual threat to the republic.
Many have criticized the Dallas Cowboys as a result and accused the team of not vetting its partners.
\u201cREAD THE ROOM COWBOYS\u201d— Pro-Choice Now and Forever (@Pro-Choice Now and Forever) 1657141917
\u201cPlease welcome America's extremist right ties, coffee company!!! Good job at vetting your partners @dallascowboys \ud83e\udd26\u200d\u2640\ufe0f\n\nhttps://t.co/4tveaxdHE3\u201d— Bernadette Greenwood (@Bernadette Greenwood) 1657144694
\u201cThe Dallas Cowboys announced yesterday they inked a deal with Black Rifle Coffee.\n\nIf it rings a bell...\u201d— Colin Kaepernick 7\ufe0f\u20e3 Was Exiled Exercising Rights (@Colin Kaepernick 7\ufe0f\u20e3 Was Exiled Exercising Rights) 1657119096
\u201cAs if I needed another reason to despise the Cowboys. Promoting a coffee company that celebrates guns right after a mass shooting is splashed all over the news. This is the most 'Merica thing ever. \ud83d\ude44\u201d— Brian Basham \ud83d\udc8e (@Brian Basham \ud83d\udc8e) 1657124966
\u201c.@dallascowboys @blckriflecoffee Jerry Jones must be the most tone-deaf owner in the @NFL. \n\nWith roasts titled "AK-47 Espresso Blend" and "Murdered Out," Black Rifle Coffee is nothing but a sick exploitation company that's profiting off the mass murder epidemic in America. $BRCC\u201d— Bill Madden (he/him/\u00e9l) \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6 (@Bill Madden (he/him/\u00e9l) \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6) 1657133681
\u201cHaven't seen something this badly thought out since Jerry Jones tried the mannequin challenge.\u201d— Zito (@Zito) 1657116239
\u201cLess than 24 hrs after another mass shooting you are promoting @blckriflecoffee ? The same company who praise this murderer/loser ?! Shame on you @dallascowboys\u201d— Yolanda \ud83d\udc8e (@Yolanda \ud83d\udc8e) 1657072891
\u201cShameful cowboys. unamerican, unpatriotic and pathetic. using murdered americans to sell coffee.\u201d— Never forget maga traitors to America 1/6/21 (@Never forget maga traitors to America 1/6/21) 1657107699
\u201cBad Football \ud83e\udd1d Bad Coffee\u201d— Michael Hildebrand (@Michael Hildebrand) 1657109515
The partnership also lies in stark contrast to actions the Dallas Cowboys took in the wake of a mass shooting at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas that has fueled much of the currrent nationwide debate on gun control.
After a lone gunman killed 19 students and two teachers in a grisly shooting that brought to mind the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre, the Dallas Cowboys announced their role in a $400,000 donation to support victims and survivors in Uvalde.
