A well-known Melbourne bar has responded to the harsh criticism it received for multiple ‘tasteless’ social media postings that mocked the passing of Queen Elizabeth II.
The uproar that broke out stunned the general manager of Kelly’s Hotel in Cranbourne.
Michael Goldie told Daily Mail Australia that despite receiving several death threats, he had no remorse.
He argues that the messages are merely meant to serve as a gentle reminder to younger generations to cherish and spend time with their elderly loved ones while they are still with us.
The majority of the posters have now been removed, but not before inciting intense resentment among former and future customers who pledged to boycott the establishment.
Eat lunch before they pass away. One post with a picture of the late Queen and her grandson Prince Harry with the message, “The chances after are exceedingly restricted.
After some time had passed, the location shared another image of the Queen next to a photograph of an upset Harry who had not arrived in Balmoral in time to see his grandmother before she passed away.
Yep, he repeatedly postponed lunch, according to the post.
She’ll hold till next week, he said. It’s not like it’s my mother’s mother, he said. But for Grannie Windsor, the next week never came. Have lunch with your grandparent!
‘Another grandchild was inconsolable because he was too unhappy to accompany his auld grandma out to lunch,’ said another post with a similar image of Prince Harry. Make sure it’s not you.
The pub’s Instagram page still has a fourth photo with numerous costumed corgis, the Queen’s preferred dog breed.
Everyone must be thinking, “What about the Corgis! Some claim they are customarily interred alongside the Queen, although others dispute this.” It reads, “I prefer to believe in a greater calling.”
Additionally, the removed postings advertised the bar’s delivery and takeout services, infuriating the neighbourhood.
It’s time to stop posting the twisted (and sometimes insane) comedy. Some of them weren’t even amusing, and they had nothing to do with your company or were even relevant. A patron said on the bar’s Facebook page, “The second you get off course with polarising opinions it becomes destructive.”
Additionally, several one-star Google reviewers swore they would never use it again.
“Tasteless food, much like their Tasteless posts they make, abhorrent behaviour, and I wish you lose all your important consumers who kept you all afloat,” the commenter said. Won’t be coming back,” wrote a former frequent customer.
An further critic stated: “Complete disrespect to our Queen. Seriously embarrassing won’t ever have food here.
Michael Goldie, the general manager, acknowledged to Daily Mail Australia that the removed postings regarding Prince Harry were “wrongly disseminated,” but he stands by the point they were trying to make.
Similar articles on the value of spending time with ageing family members were posted even before the Queen passed away, he said.
I figured people would use the posters as a prompt to call their grandparents and visit them, said Mr. Goldie.
They made a good point when they said that Harry should have spent more time with his grandma before she passed away.
We’ve been advising everyone for a while to take their grandparents out to lunch.
Despite several threats being made against the bar, Mr. Goldie has no remorse about the offence the postings created.
Everyone has a right to express their opinions, he added.
Every action we do is a teaching moment. Would I re-post them? Maybe, but I’d definitely go about it differently.
The venue is a fourth generation hotel that dates to the early 1900s and is located in Melbourne’s southeast.