Dallas Cowboys Face Backlash for Black Rifle Coffee Company Partnership | Eater Dallas

"Founded in Salt Lake City and promoted as “America’s coffee,” this pro-military, pro-police coffee brand is known for blending politics and product — even naming roasts after firearms and policing culture (examples include AK Espresso, Gunship, Silencer Smooth and a Thin Blue Line blend). The company operates retail locations concentrated in suburban and rural markets (notably none in central Dallas, Arlington or Frisco, with the nearest outlets in Plano, North Richland Hills and Benbrook), runs a media ecosystem of podcasts, a YouTube channel and Coffee or Die magazine, and has financially benefitted from a strong public following (shares jumped about 30% on its first trading day). Its founder, a former Green Beret and vocal supporter of Trump who once endorsed the Big Lie, has publicly tried to distance the brand from white-nationalist and extremist associations after high-profile incidents involving supporters wearing the brand, but controversy persists because of past sponsorship ties to far-right media. A recent high-profile partnership with the local NFL franchise to give away game tickets and a yearlong coffee subscription drew sharp criticism for its timing after mass shootings, with defenders calling it veteran- and first-responder-focused while critics say it signals alignment with a polarizing, pro-gun cultural stance rather than a commitment to gun reform." - Courtney E. Smith