There’s a Lubbock Bar That’s Taking a Stand Against the Date Rape Culture

We're all against date rape, obviously. But the strange culture that makes light of it and jokes about it takes the seriousness out of the situation. Flippers Tavern (AKA Flips Tavern) in Lubbock is helping to stop that.

According to Flippers Tavern bar manager Olivia Hall, a representative from Red Bull had a meeting with them about new flavors of the popular energy drink and some new mixed drinks they were sharing with bars and restaurants. One of those "new" drinks is called the "roofie bomb," an obvious call out to the infamous date rape drug, Rohypnol.

When Hall heard that name, she made the decision to not only not make that drink, but to also cancel their Red Bull orders permanently.

I, for one, say way to go, Olivia. It takes courage to stand up to things like this that some people think are funny, or clever, or are using them to sell products, but in reality they downplay the seriousness of an all-to-common crime especially on college campuses like Texas Tech. They also indirectly poke fun at the victims of the heinous crimes, which in turn makes it harder and harder for other victims to come forward and get justice.

Hall told Everything Lubbock:

"It's not funny. It's not a joke. Though it may seem something small, that it's just a shot on a promotional sheet, it's not small. This is how you create change. You have to point out every little instance where something isn't right. and that's not right."

It is important to note that Red Bull made a statement about the incident and say that they never put such a name on their sales sheet. That it must have been added by an individual salesperson, not the company. They also stated that they would never condone a name like this being associated with their product.

"The list of names was not created by Red Bull," said Red Bull representative Patrice Radden (quote via Everything Lubbock). "We have initiated an investigation in relation to this matter and can confirm that the appropriate course of action will be taken at the conclusion of the investigation."

We should all thank Olivia and Flippers Tavern for standing up for what's right in our community. It's an establishment that deserves our business. We here at KISS FM support them 100 percent.