MILLER MAKES CONCESSIONS; BOYCOTT AND ANTI-MILLER PR CAMPAIGN END

Catholic League president Bill Donohue explained today why the protest of the Miller Brewing Company has ended:

“From the beginning of the Folsom Street Fair controversy, the position of the Catholic League has been that it was insufficient for the Miller Brewing Company to simply apologize for the misappropriation of its logo on an offensive Last Supper promotional poster. What we wanted was an acknowledgment that there were other extremely disturbing anti-Catholic aspects to this event. We have now secured that missing piece. Miller is now saying that following a review of what happened, ‘we are aware of other disrespectful activities, objects and groups associated with or present at the fair which, like the promotional poster, violate our marketing policies. We extend our original apology to include these unfortunate events and items as well.’

“This has been a team effort. We are particularly grateful for the support that several bishops and ad hoc groups have shown, especially the wonderful people in Michigan’s Chaldean community.

“The Catholic League is happy that Miller has reconsidered this ugly issue and has no plans to revisit it again. Accordingly, the boycott is off. So, too, is our anti-Miller PR campaign. There may very well be a follow-up meeting with the principals to this controversy; we welcome such an opportunity to convey our concerns to the Miller brass. Now it’s time for everyone who enjoys Miller beer to resume consumption again.”




MILLER’S LATEST APOLOGY REJECTED

Catholic League president Bill Donohue commented today on Miller’s apology of Oct. 26:

“They either don’t get it or they think we’re stupid. Miller’s latest apology is nothing but a rehash of what it has been saying all along—it limits its apology to the use of its logo on the offensive Last Supper promotional poster for the Folsom Street Fair. But it still refuses to apologize for the anti-Catholic nature of the event itself. As we have repeatedly said, sacred symbols were sold as sex toys at the Miller-sponsored event, a stripper and a man dressed as Jesus were hoisted in cages above a Catholic church on a Sunday, and men mocked nuns in the street. Evidently, Miller thinks these kinds of things are okay.

“In the latest news release on this subject, Miller VP Nehl Horton said, ‘when one group actively disrespects another, we cannot support its events and activities.’ This is a fine statement, if only it were true. The fact is Miller has made no pledge not to sponsor the Folsom Street Fair again. Accordingly, we will continue the boycott and the anti-Miller PR campaign. Regarding the latter, we are mailing the incredibly shocking photos of the Folsom Street Fair to the following Milwaukee groups today:

  · Pan-African Community Association
· 13th District Neighborhood Association
 · Avenues West Association
· Merrill Park Neighborhood Association
· Lincoln Village Business Association
· Milwaukee Police Association
· Electrical Contractors Association
· Fairfield Place Association
· Mitchell Street Association
· American Subcontractors Association

“If Miller pledges not to sponsor another anti-Catholic event, we will drop the boycott and the anti-Miller PR campaign. But not until it does.”

Contact Miller VP Nehl Horton at horton.nehl@mbco.com.





MILLER’S APOLOGY IS INSULTING

Catholic League president Bill Donohue responded today to the latest news regarding Miller’s sponsorship of anti-Catholicism:

“The Miller Brewing Company and the Board of Directors of the Folsom Street Fair have both issued press statements this week apologizing for the offensive Last Supper poster that was used to promote the event. As such, they have insulted Catholics one more time. Let me be specific.

“The poster was the least offensive part of this Catholic-bashing forum. What was even more offensive was the sight of Christian symbols being sold at this Miller-sponsored fair as sex toys. The obscene and blasphemous names of these vulgar sex toys are so disgusting that no mainstream newspaper would print them. Then there was the incredible sight of a stripper and a man dressed as Jesus hoisted in cages above a Catholic church on a Sunday. This was done to provoke, taunt and insult Catholics. And who greeted everyone at the street fair? Men dressed as nuns. Had they been dressed like Al Jolson—with blackened faces—they would have been run out of town as racists.

“The Folsom Street Fair news release on this subject shows how utterly clueless its officers are. It says, ‘The mission is to create volunteer-driven leather events that provide the adult alternative lifestyle community with safe venues for self-expression while emphasizing freedom, fun, frolic and fetish and raising funds to benefit charity.’

“To which I say: If your idea of a ‘safe venue’ ‘self-expression’ and ‘fun’ includes men being beaten with chains in broad daylight, men who masturbate in the street, and men who perform oral sex on each other in public—I have pictures of these acts—then spare Catholics of your ‘fun.’ Leave us out of it and you can do to each other whatever you want.

“The only thing Miller is worried about is its logo appearing on a poster for an event it could not possibly defend. Not until it pledges not to sponsor Catholic-bashing events will the Catholic League call off its boycott and its anti-Miller PR campaign. We’re like that proverbial fly who just won’t go away.”

Contact Miller VP Nehl Horton at horton.nehl@mbco.com




MILLER BOYCOTT REACHES NEW LEVEL

Catholic League president Bill Donohue commented today on the latest developments regarding the league’s protest of Miller beer:

“The Miller boycott has now reached a new level. In addition to the countless number of Catholics who have called us joining the boycott, we are now drawing the support of high-ranking members of the Catholic clergy, the Knights of Columbus in Illinois and New York and the Chaldean community in Michigan.

“Regarding the latter, there are now more than 50 businesses operated by Chaldean Catholics that have pledged to support the boycott. Led by Mike Setto, owner of Orion Keg & Wine Party Store in Michigan’s Lake Orion, many of these Chaldean store owners met last night with Miller representatives Paul J. Quasarano and Christopher Hudgens. For information about the efforts of the Chaldean community, seewww.chaldean.org; a dozen Chaldean organizations have also joined the boycott.

“As I recently told a Catholic bishop, it is not enough for Miller to say it will not approve another anti-Christian poster like the one associated with the Folsom Street Fair. What we want is an end to Miller sponsorship of all anti-Catholic events. To wit: the Folsom Street Fair included (a) the selling of religious symbols as sex toys (b) the hoisting of a stripper and a man dressed as Jesus in cages above a Catholic church on a Sunday, and (c) the public mocking of nuns.

“We are not asking for much. Just as important, we will not settle for less. Any corporation that sponsors events that belittles people on the basis of religion is no better than one that belittles people on the basis of race, ethnicity, national origin or sexual orientation. Why this even has to be argued is testimony to the incredible double standard at play in our society.”

Contact Miller ace Julian Green at green.julian@mbco.com




NYC DISTORTS COURT RULINGS ON HOLIDAY DISPLAYS

Catholic League president Bill Donohue commented today on the way the New York City Department of Education is misrepresenting court decisions on holiday displays in the schools:

“Bridget Kearney, an officer of the Ladies Order of Hibernians, recently received a letter from the New York City Department of Education that flatly distorts the truth about court rulings regarding holiday displays. Kearney wanted to know why New York City continues to allow menorahs and crescent and stars to be displayed in the classroom while banning nativity scenes. She was told that ‘the Department of Education’s policy regarding holiday displays permits the display of holiday symbol decorations with secular dimensions’ and that religious symbols ‘are prohibited.’ She was then informed that this policy ‘has been upheld in federal court.’

“What Kearney was told is a serious distortion of the truth. What happened is not debatable: a) the district court first ruled that because the menorah and crescent and star were secular symbols, they could—unlike the nativity scene—be displayed in the schools, and b) the circuit court ruled that the district court erred in declaring the Jewish and Islamic symbols as secular—it said that the New York City policy ‘mischaracterizes the menorah as a secular symbol’ and that the ‘same conclusion applies to the policy’s treatment of the star and crescent.’ The circuit court added that while New York City was not legally obliged to display a crèche (the Christian holiday was represented by a Christmas tree), it also said, ‘We do not here decide whether the City could, consistent with the Constitution, include a crèche in its holiday displays.’ The U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal.

“In other words, New York City is allowed to display the Jewish and Islamic religious symbols and it is not prohibited from displaying nativity scenes. Thus, it is not the law that is standing in the way of equal treatment—it is the Department of Education. What we want is parity: if Jews and Muslims are allowed to display their religious symbols, it is nothing less than insulting to tell Christians to be satisfied with a secular symbol at Christmastime. I am requesting a meeting with the Schools Chancellor about this matter.”




MILLER BREWING PROTEST CONTINUES: MILWAUKEE CIVIC ASSOCIATIONS CONTACTED

Catholic League president Bill Donohue explained the latest strategy for dealing with Miller’s sponsorship of anti-Catholicism:

“We’re not going away. After having sent the most unbelievable photos of decadent anti-Catholicism to all the priests, ministers, rabbis and imams in Milwaukee, we are now hitting the civic associations. Because there are so many, we are choosing a select group each week. Today’s mailing targets the following organizations:

·   Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce
·   Federation For Civic Action
·   Greater Milwaukee Convention
·   Visitor Information Center
·   American Indian Chamber of Commerce of Wisconsin
·   Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Wisconsin
·   VISIT Milwaukee Corporate Office
·   Community Development
·   Sherman Park Community Association
·   Community Enterprises of Milwaukee

“There will be ten more next week. And so on. We want all the leaders in Milwaukee—in both religious and secular circles—to know exactly the kind of Catholic-bashing event that Miller Brewing recently sponsored. We are looking for a pledge from Miller indicating that it will no longer sponsor public attacks on Roman Catholicism. Once that is achieved, we will cancel the boycott and the anti-Miller PR campaign.”

To contact Miller, write to Julian Green, spokesman, atgreen.julian@mbco.com, call 1-800-MILLER 6 or send a fax to 414-931-3732.




MILWAUKEE RABBIS AND IMAMS GET MILLER PHOTOS; BOYCOTT IS IN FULL SWING

Catholic League president Bill Donohue released the following statement today regarding the league’s protest of Miller beer:

“Last week we sent some photos of the Miller-sponsored Folsom Street Fair to all the pastors of the 166 Protestant churches in Milwaukee. Today we are blanketing all the synagogues and mosques in Milwaukee; we are asking rabbis and imams for their assistance in protesting Miller’s anti-religion agenda. Next week we will target another segment of the Milwaukee community.

“Our anti-Miller PR campaign and boycott of Miller beer will continue on a weekly basis until such time that the Miller Brewing Company issues a statement reassuring Americans that it will never again promote an anti-religious event. There are signs that our boycott is working.

“Mike Setto owns Orion Keg & Wine Party Store in Lake Orion, Michigan, and he has told his distributors not to deliver any more cases of Miller beer to his store. A practicing Catholic, Setto is also encouraging other store owners not to stock Miller. Significantly, he has done several TV, radio and newspaper interviews about this issue.

“I am also delighted to report that my own pastor has placed flyers at the back of his church urging parishioners not to buy Miller beer. We have also been contacted by many other priests across the nation saying they have informed their congregants not to purchase Miller beer. Additionally, we have received the support of several advocacy organizations in our campaign against Miller.

“In other words, the boycott is in full swing. Our game plan includes ways that will expand the boycott. So stay tuned.”

Contact Miller ace Julian Green at green.julian@mbco.com




DAVID E. KELLEY—TINSELTOWN’S ACE BIGOT

Catholic League president Bill Donohue commented today on last night’s episode of the ABC show, “Boston Legal”:

“The show featured a 15 year-old girl who is enrolled in an abstinence-only sex education program, contracts HIV and then sues her school, blaming it for her condition. At the trial, the school’s principal, the girl’s attorneys and the judge all tout the virtues of condoms, fingering Christian activists—who else?—for her irresponsibility.

“This is surreal. A half-century ago, sex education, condoms and sexually transmitted diseases were all uncommon. Since that time, students have learned the art of putting condoms on cucumbers, and have been introduced to sexual techniques that are as deviant as they are injurious. The results of which are illegitimacy and AIDS. But this is obviously over the head of ‘Boston Legal’ producer David E. Kelley, Tinseltown’s ace bigot.

“Kelley has long hated Catholicism. That is why he finished his number last night ridiculing a nun in habit (it’s always nuns in habit whom the Hollywood gang likes to slam). The nun is portrayed translating the words of a Mexican immigrant charged with cockfighting. Referring to the rooster as a ‘champion cock,’ she comments how ‘it would bring me such joy to hold him.’ Then, to the astonishment of the court, the sister says, ‘To hold that beautiful cock in my own two hands.’

“Were it not for people like Kelley, millions of Americans would not hold Hollywood in contempt. It is the Kelleys of this world who purposely craft a libertine milieu—one which inexorably leads to spiritual, psychological and physical death—only to perversely blame Catholics for the fruits of their labor. Sadly, they will go to their deathbeds never having figured it out. That’s why they need to read the Catholic Catechism before it’s too late.”




MILWAUKEE MINISTERS HIT WITH S&M MILLER PHOTOS

Catholic League president Bill Donohue released the following statement today regarding the league’s protest of Miller beer:

“Last week I announced that all 211 parishes in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee were being mailed a memo and some photos of the Miller-sponsored Folsom Street Fair; this was the first of many mailings that would occur weekly. Today I am pleased to say that all the pastors of the 166 Protestant churches in Milwaukee are being mailed the same packet of information. Here is an excerpt of my memo:

The enclosed pictures offer a glimpse of the Christian-bashing antics, and the sadomasochistic practices, that characterize this Miller-sponsored event. I apologize in advance for shocking your sensibilities, but it is important for you to know that I am not exaggerating. Moreover, these photos are tame next to other pictures that I have in my possession. Please see our website at catholicleague.org for more information.

When I first learned about the Miller logo appearing on a promotional ad for the event—one that depicted half-naked men in leather seated at “The Last Supper” with sex toys on the table—I was outraged. After some delay, Miller finally pulled its logo from this ad. Then I learned that a group of gay men who ridicule nuns, the so-called Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, were among the beneficiaries of this Miller-sponsored festival (Miller is not the only sponsor, but it is the only nationwide  corporation involved). When this was brought to the attention of Miller, nothing was done (the same group held a mock Last Supper on the Thursday before the event).

It is precisely because of Miller’s obstinacy that I called for a nationwide boycott of Miller beer. Fortunately, Miller is conducting an audit of its marketing policies. Unfortunately, it still refuses to pledge that it will not be associated with another event that thrashes our religion. That’s why I am asking for your help. Please contact Miller and express your concerns so that we can wrap this issue up quickly. I will then be delighted to call off the boycott.

Contact Miller ace Julian Green at green.julian@mbco.com




MILLER TO COMBINE WITH MOLSON COORS; END TO CATHOLIC BASHING SOUGHT

Today’s announcement that SABMiller PLC and Molson Coors Brewing Company are planning to combine U.S. operations, possibly by the end of this year, was greeted with enthusiasm by Catholic League president Bill Donohue:

“Now is the time for S&M Miller to rid itself of its nasty image, so that the new company, MillerCoors, isn’t known as S&M MillerCoors. Since we haven’t gotten assurances from the Milwaukee-based brewer that it will no longer sponsor obscene anti-Christian events like the Folsom Street Fair, we are taking our plea to the Molson and Coors officers and families. Select pictures of what occurred at the street fair will be sent to them today.

“It is hard to imagine the Coors family, with its stellar reputation, as well as the Molsons, a distinguished Canadian family, wanting to support public displays of religious bigotry and sodomy. That is why we are asking them to carefully examine Miller’s promotional policies and pledge that sponsorship of these kinds of morally indefensible events will never happen again.”

Email Miller spokesman Julian Green at green.julian@mbco.com. We are purposefully not listing contact information for Molson Coors because we would like to give them a reasonable opportunity to intervene in this matter.