“George Floyd Steak” sparks outrage Restaurant says: “Hackers did it”

TDT | Manama

Owners of a local restaurant were left red-faced when netizens from Bahrain and abroad confronted them with questions over a dish named “George Floyd” on their menu. “Tasty mashed potato layered with pieces of grilled beef tenderloin, mixed grilled vegetables (red, yellow, green capsicum, white onion, blanched broccoli and carrots, mushroom) Glazed with delicious American while mushroom sauce,” read the menu description of the dish with a BD 4.000 price tag.

But reactions were not as expected, and things simply went south soon for the restaurant. “How is this okay,” wrote one user, rounding the dish in red ink, on the menu card. Netizens were quick to label the menu featuring ‘George Floyd’ steak as racist and exploitation of the fight against racism and discrimination.

Overwhelmed by criticism, the restaurant wrote a quick apology on its Instagram account, but by then the damage was already done. A picture of the dish, with its description, still on the internet, gained viral status and got shared widely by hundreds of netizens from Bahrain and abroad.

Venting their anger, many users called the dish as “mocking of the death of the American citizen, brutally killed on the streets of Minneapolis City.” The 46-year-old black man was killed in Minneapolis, Minnesota, during an arrest for allegedly using a counterfeit bill, drawing worldwide protest.

Derek Chauvin, a white police officer, knelt on Floyd’s neck for almost nine minutes while Floyd was handcuffed and lying face down in the street. The arrest and his death continue to motivate millions across the world to protest against racism. Fearing a backlash, the company, a well-known food delivery company in the region, came up with an apology for placing the menu on its page.

The apology posted on the company’s Twitter account called the incident as ‘unintentional’. “Thank you for raising this issue with us. Kindly note we have immediately taken this down. We have communicated it to the restaurant, this is definitely not acceptable, it was never the restaurant’s intentions. We appreciate the support,” the food delivery company wrote on its Twitter handle.

Hackers Did It! Meanwhile, the restaurant claimed on its official Instagram account that it was victimised by hackers and were being threatened by ‘three accounts’ outside Bahrain. The account users, the restaurant said, took their content and reposted it elsewhere to make it look like “that we support racism.”

Explaining the restaurant said the dish -George Floyd Steakdeveloped ‘recently, was their intention to support the cause, but “was misunderstood by some of our customers.” “The moment we knew that our customers did not accept it, we ceased serving it on our menu. We are sincerely sorry for any dissatisfaction it might have created.”

Their post further reads: “We are all completing each other, and there is no difference between anyone, whatever their colour, religion or language. All are equal.” “We always strive to maintain equality among our team, which represents a group of different nationalities.” “We are very proud of our diversity, and we support such diversity in our society,” the restaurant wrote on its Instagram page.