People give others stick all the time for drinking alcohol free beer (even if they're a designated driver or avoiding booze) because it's not the real stuff.
While that's all well and good when it's BBQ banter, it's a different story when a company or business gets into that realm. Well, an Aussie brewery has found itself in hot water after posting a homophobic meme about non-alcoholic beer.
Southern Bay Brew Co, a brewery based in Geelong, Victoria, posted a black and white picture of a bloke with his fists up and a caption that reads: "Non-alcoholic beer. You mean gay lemonade?"
The post was only up for a few hours before it was taken down due to severe community backlash.
The director of the brewery has since posted an apology on its Facebook page.
"Apologies to all that were offended by an earlier post. This was posted without any thought whatsoever and no offence was intended. I apologise unreservedly.
"The post has since been deleted and we will be more careful selecting our posts in future.
"We realise this is not good enough and we should not have posted the homophobic beer meme. It will not happen again. It was a gross error and mistake and we would appreciate it if people were kind enough to forgive us.
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"Please accept our sincere apologies."
The page regularly posts beer related memes that are a mix of puns and 'yay it's Friday', so it's not out of the ordinary. What is out of the ordinary is the page associating gay people with a lack of manliness.
Despite the online apology, people have still been scathing in the comments.
"Not remotely acceptable!!! It's 2019!!! This is a brilliant industry with amazing and diverse people in it and supporting it. What an absolute disgrace. You have tarnished its reputation and yet again we are reminded that this bullshit still exists," wrote one person.
"Blaming a lack of thought is equally unacceptable and apologising to 'all that were offended' puts the onus on us and feels like you don't understand why your post was offensive," said another.
A third added: "1954 called. They want your social media approach back."
The person in charge of the Facebook account has been responding to the angry replies, apologising again and ensuring that a meme or sentiment like this won't happen again.
Featured Image Credit: Credit: Southern Bay Brew Co/FacebookTopics: Viral, Community, Australia