Controversial cafe sign results in abuse, death threats for owner
A sign outside a café referring to Australia Day as ‘National D***head Day’ has angered tens of thousands of Australians resulting in a social media storm and even violent death threats against the shop owner.
The controversial wording has attracted attention nation-wide to Mister Jones coffee shop in Bermagui on the NSW South Coast, with the owner, Matt, saying he has received threats of attack and countless emails of abuse.
The photograph, taken by a member of the Bermagui community shared the photo on Facebook which has received more than 7,000 likes and 2000 comments.
Matt, a professional artist who opened Mister Jones as a side project, wrote a public post addressing the blackboard comment and describing the hate mail he has received.
“Over the last days, messages have been cascading through my email account, containing unprintable abuse and describing group plans for physical attacks,” he wrote.
“My voicemail account has mercifully reached capacity and I’ve long stopped listening to the graphic and explicit death threats. These messages have been much more chilling than the thousands posted online.”
He said Facebook ‘hate pages’ have been set up specifically to target his business.
He wrote that the message wasn’t aimed at anyone in particular, but rather ‘it offended those who experienced a moment of self-recognition’.
“As these individuals continue to over-react, the sign only becomes truer. The shoe clearly fit, and they wore it.”
His business page has been inundated with comments from the public, divided by opinion over the wording of the sign.
“Let me assure you, spending the day with my beautiful family and friends overlooking the harbor, listening to Triple J doesn't make me a dickhead…you've certainly lost a supporter in me,” one woman wrote.
“This man [sic] scum hope his business closes,” a man commented.
Many users defended Matt’s signage, saying it was humorous and should be taken lightly.
“I think your board was perfect. Good for you,” a woman posted on the business page.
“I'm so glad to know you exist, via your blackboard furore... I will seek a coffee at yours when next I visit my father in Moruya,” one user said, proving that the café’s attention has worked in Matt’s favour.
While he wrote that his business recorded the ‘biggest Australia Day crowd on record’, many Facebook users seem determined to see his coffee shop fail.
He has received 140 one star ratings since opening the business page several years ago and almost all of the poor grades have been made over the past two days.
“I was not intending to create a social media frenzy, publicity stunt or national debate. The blackboard was written light-heartedly, and only displayed for 15 minutes,” his statement read.
The coffee shop is attached to his art studio on Bunga Street.
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