A tongue-in-cheek social media post from a local business is gaining attention.
Needle & Bean in Mt. Lebanon posted on Instagram that they would no longer be carrying musicians like Carrie Underwood, The Village People, Kid Rock and other acts that performed at and at events surrounding the inauguration of Donald Trump last week.
Michael Butala, owner of Needle & Bean tells KDKA Radio’s Colin Dunlap that his intention wasn’t to cause any division between the left and right or blue and red, it was a criticism of the new president.
“It is about the elected official of the free world,” said Butala, implying Trump.
“On the surface, I feel like America deserved a better representative to the rest of the world,” added Butala.
He adds the post on social media was tongue in cheek and the artists named in the post won’t be played at their store anyway.
So why say anything and possibly hurt your business?
“I think it’s really shortsighted to have this kind of voice and not stand up and say something that you see is a concern,” said Butala. “I choose to draw lines where I feel that there are maybe a morally or ethical issue with the artist promoting the inauguration of someone that I think we can do better as a representative of the free world.”
He says the post has affecting his business in a negative way through poor reviews online.
“I’ll take the bad reviews, I don’t care,” said Butala. “I think our product stands on its own. I have no regrets about what I’ve done, I would do it again, I will continue doing it, I believe in a better world.”
Needle & Bean is also having fun with some of the 1 star reviews they have received.