Image via Google Maps
Winter Garden’s MoonCricket Grille thought to be mocking Pulse victims with recent 49-cent Bud Light promo
Winter Garden restaurant MoonCricket Grille is facing online backlash after it advertised a promotion seemingly making fun of the 49 victims of Orlando’s Pulse nightclub shooting.
MoonCricket Grille posted to its Facebook page a graphic offering 49-cent Bud Light bottles and asking customers to “take one for the team.”
“It’s okay if you want to buy a bottle and have it poured down the drain,” the image also read.
The promotion was originally posted Wednesday, May 31, one day before both Pride Month started and the anniversary month of the 2016 Pulse massacre in Orlando.
What appeared to begin as an attempt to mock and troll for reactions from progressive community members soon was met with a barrage of commenters calling out the establishment.
“So I just went into Moon Cricket in downtown Winter Garden, FL to verify if this ad that they had on their Facebook page was legit. I talked to the first person that I came in contact with and asked her about the legitimacy of the ad and what did it mean,” wrote commenter Andy Wright.
Wright noted the employee appeared nervous when he showed her the ad on his phone.
“She responded that other people have made comments and also indicated that other people have questioned the number… I found that very interesting because I didn’t even specifically ask about the number 49,” Wright wrote.
“This tells me that they knew exactly what they were doing, and they know exactly what it meant to them.”
Another user contacted Orlando Weekly wanting to verify the situation.
“This is a reference making a joke of the 49 victims who lost their lives at Pulse,” wrote Nick Cavato. “This is not a joke. The owners are extreme right wing conservatives whose ethics are questionable to say the least. They should lose business over this.”
Bud Light and its parent company Anheuser-Busch recently came under conservative-fueled fire after partnering with trans influencer and activist Dylan Mulvaney.
The company sent Mulvaney singular promotional items printed with her face on them, to which the conservative right responded by boycotting the company and dumping the beer in protest.
Another Orlando eatery, Grills Seafood Deck and Tiki Bar, also recently pulled Bud Light from its restaurants. Owner Joe Penovich told Fox News that the brand’s partnership with a transgender person brought him into “hell on Earth.”
MoonCricket Grille has previously spent time in the public eye, as it has shown no intention of addressing its name, which includes the racial slur “moon cricket.” The phrase was used heavily by enslavers to describe enslaved people who sang songs at night time.
The establishment wrote in a post in 2020 that the “goofy” name was intended to help it differentiate itself from other bars in the area. They also write that it conveys the idea that the bar is a “hoppin’ place” and that moon cricket is used to refer to white people.
Despite multiple attempts at contact, Orlando Weekly has not heard back from MoonCricket Grille as of late Tuesday afternoon.
This is a developing story.
Subscribe to Orlando Weekly newsletters.
Follow us: Google News | NewsBreak | Reddit | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter