A Vancouver Island brewery is in the middle of a public relations firestorm due to the clothing choice of one of its co-owners.
John Adair, who is also the brewmaster at Sooke Brewing Company, was photographed wearing a t-shirt that “Show Me the Evidence” t-shirt inside the business on Sept. 30.
Of course, Sept. 30 was National Day for Truth and Reconciliation and it’s easy to reach a conclusion about what the phrase is referring to, but Adair has not spoken publicly about the shirt’s meaning.
The brewery has, however, releasing a public statement the following morning, after the photo went viral for all the wrong reasons, that called Adair’s shirt “offensive.”
“We want to be unequivocal: the message displayed on that shirt does not reflect the values of Sooke Brewing Company,” the statement said.
“What occurred at our brewery was inappropriate and unacceptable. We understand why it caused anger, hurt and disappointment, particularly within Indigenous communities, and we sincerely apologize.”
The brewery did not open on Thursday and shared a follow-up statement in the afternoon that said “Adair has been terminated, effective immediately.”
The statement doubled down on the fact that the brewmaster’s views do not reflect the values of Sooke Brewing, its ownership or its staff.
“We are devastated by his actions and sincerely apologize for the hurt they have caused,” it continued. “We stand with our community in condemning this behaviour and have made the decision to close the brewery for now.”
The statement added that the brewery has reached out to First Nations leaders to “listen, understand their concerns and determine the appropriate next steps to ensure something like this does not happen again.”
“We care deeply about this community and the people who are part of it,” it said. “We are committed to Truth and Reconciliation and to respectful relationships with local First Nations communities.”
While the brewery was inundated with one-star reviews and public backlash following the incident on Wednesday, the tone started to shift in the comment section once Adair’s termination was announced.
However, many still expressed concerns about the announcement and Adair’s status as co-owner, asking for more details on how someone with that position can be “terminated.”
At this time, the brewery has not provided any further information to answer those concerns.
Another twist to this story is that there are two breweries in Sooke with very similar names and the other local business is catching some of the backlash as well.
On Thursday, Sooke Oceanside Brewery founder Ryan Orr released his own statement to ensure the public knows that the two businesses are unaffiliated.
According to Orr, Sooke Oceanside Brewery opened in 2016, and expressed concerns to Sooke Brewing Company ownership when it opened with a nearly identical name one year later.
“We expressed our concerns that the similarity in names would create confusion between the two breweries. Unfortunately, that concern has proven to be well founded,” Orr explained.
“Since then, there has been ongoing confusion between the two businesses, and today we are seeing that confusion reach a level that requires us to make this clarification publicly.”
Orr urged people to direct their concerns about the Adair incident to the appropriate brewery and said his business remains “committed to our customers, our community and to treating people with respect.”
