CALGARY - Posters pushing for pubgoers to make a little more love and a little less war at a Calgary tavern this Remembrance Day have been pulled, with the apologies of its proprietors.
Local 510 ownership team member Brian Lee said, basically, the planners of the Remembrance Day “Makeout Party” just weren’t thinking.
“(The makeout parties) are actually a regular event that we do every long weekend,” Lee told the Sun Tuesday, two days after veterans and the younger generation alike expressed their distaste for the Nov. 11 event at the tavern on 17 Ave., in Calgary’s southwest.
“Maybe there was a lack of foresight in the planning.
“We had no intention to be disrespectful or offend anybody ... that was the last thing we wanted to do.”
A statement posted at the tavern website Tuesday, at http://www.localtavern.ca/statement-on-remembrance-day-event/, echoed Lee’s words and the tavern Twitter feed is now directing a still steady stream of irked Tweeters to the statement.
Critics have been taking to social media to chastise the bar for the initial poster, utilizing the iconic image of a sailor locked in a kiss with a girl, since Sunday.
On Twitter, Valerie Roney wrote: “Wow. One day a year we take a moment to reflect on the horrors of war, not appropriate @Local510!”
In an exchange with local alt-rock radio show X92.9, Will Barnard called it a “disrespectful” promotion, but not one by which he overly shocked.
“Sad truth is some institutions will capitalize on the holiday for an easy buck without a second thought on its history,” he wrote.
Some took it even further — Richard Singh shamed the establishment, calling it “disgraceful,” and calling on people to actually boycott the bar.
“Remembrance Day isn’t a holiday but rather a day of (honour) to those who gave their lives for us,” Singh wrote.
The poster, which Lee said only made it as far as being put up inside the tavern and on Twitter, has since been removed, and he said between that and the statement he feels the issue has been appropriately addressed.
“We acted very quickly to try and fix that,” Lee said.
damien.wood@sunmedia.ca
On Twitter: @SUNDamienWood
— With files from Michael Wood
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