Vietnam War-Themed Bar Owned By Two White Dudes Issues A Non-Apology And People Are Pissed

Two owners of a bar in Melbourne, Australia, who created a Vietnam War-themed bar in a neighborhood with a significant Vietnamese population, have issued a “sorry if you’re offended”-style apology before deleting its Instagram account.

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Junkee noted that the Rickshaw Bar owners, David Anderson and Stuart Neil—pointing out specifically they are “two white men who are not of Vietnamese descent”—were responding to reactions to the bar’s marketing and aesthetic, which were labeled “‘pathetic,’ ‘disgusting,’ and ‘so incredibly fucked’ after images from the venue’s Instagram started to circulate online.”

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“We have taken down our content and apologize to anyone that was offended or found the content inappropriate,” they posted to Instagram before the account was deleted. “We have revised our tone and are working hard to make this right. Sorry for any distress caused — it was never our intent.”

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Junkee also noted that the owners issued a statement to Broadsheet, a Melbourne publication, stating they were “saddened” that their creative concept for a “cool little bar had caused upset in the community.”

That article kicked off with a Vietnamese-Australian restauranteur going all caps to point out, “AGENT ORANGE IS NOT A F—KING AESTHETIC,” before chastising them with, “My family didn’t go through all that trauma (and still is) for your own personal gain.”

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Another Australian publication, Liminal, also voiced its outrage, starting a tweet thread with “Imagine a war where over a million people died, & then imagine deciding to create an aesthetic out of it, to sell cocktails filled with bullet shells, with an Agent Orange theme.”

Imagine a war where over a million people died, & then imagine deciding to create an aesthetic out of it, to sell cocktails filled with bullet shells, with an Agent Orange theme.

Welcome to ‘Rickshaw Bar’, now open in Melbourne. This is Australia. pic.twitter.com/jisjdexmPn

— L I M I N A L (@liminalmag) March 9, 2021

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The magazine’s account went on to comment: “In a year where anti-Asian racism has risen dramatically, this bar has opened *in Richmond*, a suburb with a strong Vietnamese population, including people who would have *literally fled this war*. This is horrific.”

In a year where anti-Asian racism has risen dramatically, this bar has opened *in Richmond*, a suburb with a strong Vietnamese population, including people who would have *literally fled this war*. This is horrific. pic.twitter.com/iWSzTRWvSp

— L I M I N A L (@liminalmag) March 9, 2021

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One person, responding to the thread, called for going beyond expressing outrage including “boycott Rickshaw Bar until they can be accountable for profiting off war trauma and demand them to redistribute $$ to local working-class First Nations and Vietnamese communities.”

pls not just outrage, organise/mobilise irl/sabotage and boycott rickshaw bar until they can be accountable for profiting off war trauma and demand them to redistribute $$ to local working class first nations and vietnamese communities https://t.co/wC5SiWi8wi

— killua (@azn_chips) March 10, 2021

And Carly Findlay posted the deleted attempted apology, and wrote in its place, “We have taken down our content and apologize that it was offensive and inappropriate. We have revised our theme and are working to make our bar not racist. Sorry we caused distress.”

I rewrote your nonpology, Rickshaw Bar.

We have taken down our content and apologise that it was offensive and inappropriate. We have revised our theme and are working to make our bar not racist. Sorry we caused distress.

Cc @liminalmag pic.twitter.com/w89bRoP6If

— Carly Findlay OAM (@carlyfindlay) March 10, 2021

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h/t Junkee

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*First Published: March 15, 2021, 7:40 am