The popular veteran-owned Black Rifle Coffee Company loves a cup of Joe.
Joe Rogan, that is.
While some companies and celebrities are running away from the mega-podcaster because of criticism he’s received for featuring controversial coronavirus commentators on Spotify’s The Joe Rogan Experience, Black Rifle Coffee’s CEO told Secrets that he is reaffirming his support for the host.
“Joe is a good friend and not just an ad partner,” said Iraq-Afghanistan veteran Evan Hafer, the coffee maker’s founder and chief executive.
“I learned something a long time ago in my previous profession and this business. Teammates and friends don’t duck and cover when the fire, or in this case social media pressure, picks up. You go shoulder to shoulder into the mix, and you sort it together,” he said when asked if he would abandon Rogan.
The proof: He pledged to double Black Rifle Coffee’s advertising budget for Rogan’s show, which is already in the high six figures.
“The founders of BRCC love Joe and the show,” Hafer said, dismissing the controversy sparked by musician Neil Young’s demand that his music be removed from Spotify if Rogan remained, a request the company granted.
Critics have complained that Rogan features only COVID-19 deniers and those questioning vaccines. He apologized this week and pledged to add other voices to his show.
As other celebrities pile on to attack him, Hafer said the effort to cancel Rogan shows the bias of critics.
Rogan, Hafer said, “enjoys having long, complex conversations with various guests. Unfortunately, some people don’t have the intellectual capacity to understand that.”
His firm promotes its relationship with Rogan on its website, and he even drew up a meme to show support, using an iconic World War II image with Rogan holding a cup of BRCC under the words, “How about a nice big cup of shut the f*** up.”
Hafer, a former Green Beret and CIA contractor, created Black Rifle Coffee in 2014, building a following with a quirky way of describing coffees. It is now opening shops and expanding into stores, including Cabela’s, and has a goal of hiring 10,000 military veterans.
He and his firm have been subjected to the woke cancel culture similar to Rogan because they feature gun-themed names for their coffee products.
Authored by Paul Bedard via Washington Examiner
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