David Bridges
A pub in Melbourne’s southeast has been hit with serious backlash over a series of insensitive social media posts about the Queen used to promote the venue.
Kelly’s Hotel in Cranbourne made the posts in the wake of the Queen’s death last Friday.
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On September 10, the pub captioned a photo of the Queen and Prince Harry: “Do lunch before they die”.
“The opportunities after are extremely limited,” the post read.
The caption then included the hotel’s website and phone number, advertising that eat-in and delivery options were available.
The post garnered over 1000 reactions and nearly 800 comments.
Another post on the same day again featured a picture of the Queen next to a photo of Harry arriving at Balmoral following his grandmother’s death.
“Yep, he cancelled lunch, time and time again,” the post read.
“‘She’ll keep till next week!’ he said, ‘It’s not as if it’s my Mum’s Mum’, he said.
“But next week never arrived for Grannie Windsor. Do lunch with your oldie!!”
Many called out the pub for trying to advertise using “tasteless” means, with one Cranbourne resident commenting that he was now “just another local … you have alienated”.
“Not the slightest bit funny! You need to sack the clown that writes this crap,” he wrote.
“Grubby advertising. Just makes me not want to go there,” another Facebook user said.
One woman wrote that she was “utterly disgusted” by the hotel’s attempt at drawing in customers.
“Regardless of whether you’re a royalist or not, your complete lack of empathy and sympathy in favour of a dollar is deplorable,” she said.
“Another patron who will no longer frequent your establishment.”
In light of the posts, dozens of one-star Google reviews made by angered patrons have also been posted.
“Absolutely appalling advertising on Facebook. Completely off-putting to attend this place ever again,” one person wrote.
Another said: “I remember attending Kelly’s as a kid with my family. We moved away from the area and haven’t been for many years but their recent posts and advertising making fun of the Queen’s passing are tasteless and dreadful.”
While the posts in question have now been deleted by the pub, some of its older Facebook posts that remain depict similar joke efforts in an attempt to advertise the venue’s meals.
In a post advertising a scotch fillet lunch special, the caption read: “Consider taking your Oldie for lunch today. Over 400 Oldies never woke up this morning! Oldies are special!!”
One person who commented on the pub’s posts about the Queen, referred to its string of recent posts as “woeful attempts at advertising”.
“(The posts) have been questionable a lot lately,” they wrote.
“This just takes the cake!”
General manager of Kelly’s Hotel Michael Goldie said the pub was just trying to send a positive message about reminding younger people to spend time with their elders.
“The situation is, we’ve been promoting bringing elderly relatives to a pub or anywhere basically for lunch,” he told 7NEWS.
“Over the last two years they’ve been stuck in homes … we thought it might be good to remind younger people the importance of older people in their life.”
In a statement to 7NEWS.com.au, Goldie said he disagreed with the tone of the backlash the pub has received.
“Everyone shows grief in different ways,” he said.
“If an apology is required to grant closure for some, consider it done. But if we’ve saved someone the grief of missing a final dinner with a loved one …”
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