A DUBLIN CAFÉ is going viral all over the world for ‘banning’ (and subsequently declaring war on) vegans.
The White Moose Café, part of the Charleville Lodge Hotel in Phibsborough, is facing backlash for ‘threatening’ to shoot any vegans who enter the café.
If the Charleville Lodge Hotel sounds familiar, that’s because it is - owner Paul Stenson is absolutely no stranger to publicity.
The war against vegans seemingly began when Stenson made this post to The White Moose Café Facebook page on August 13, ranting about a customer who complained that the menu didn’t suit their “idiosyncractic dietary requirements”.
Stenson says the woman he wrote the post about eventually found it, and shared it to a number of vegan Facebook groups.
Vegans then encouraged other vegans to leave negative reviews on the White Moose Facebook page, leading Stenson to ‘ban’ them from his café:
Given the torrent of abuse and unjustified negative reviews we have been receiving from the vegan population over the past 24 hours, all vegans are now barred from our café. Any vegans attempting to enter the café will be shot dead at point blank range.
He then ‘apologised’ to any vegans he may have offended by sarcastically threatening to shoot them dead, before saying “a much more fair way” to kill them was to put poison in their food (his postscript? “F**k you.”).
The backlash has been considerable – Stenson says he has been receiving death threats, and that protesters turned up outside the café on Friday night.
There’s also a Facebook page entitled People Against The White Moose Café, which has garnered 830 likes so far.
The saga has gone viral all over the world, featured on websites like Buzzfeed, Fusion, and Stuff New Zealand.
A number of one-star reviews on the White Moose Café Facebook page are condemning it all as a cheap publicity stunt, preying on what is now a trendy ‘hatred’ of vegans:
But according to this post by Paul Stenson, business is booming.
If you were to put a monetary value on this kind of publicity, you would easily be talking a six-figure sum. We have been receiving hundreds of messages and fan mail from people saying they will make a point of eating in our café, and the table reservations have been coming in thick and fast, all because of you guys.
DailyEdge.ie has contacted Paul Stenson and the White Moose Café for comment.
