The clip was posted by Cafe28, an artisan coffee shop on Dame Street in Dublin owned and operated by the Mercantile Group, last week.
The video has since been deleted
A city centre cafe has come under fire after a mock sketch showed a staff member placing a cloth over a woman’s mouth who was acting as a pedestrian before being dragged inside.
The clip was posted by Cafe28, an artisan coffee shop on Dame Street in Dublin owned and operated by the Mercantile Group, last week.
It was published on both TikTok and Facebook – but the video has since been deleted.
The skit shows a barista standing behind a pillar as a “female passerby” walks by.
A male staff member, who is wearing an apron, can then be seen putting a cloth over her face before dragging her into the cafe.
The act appears to be a reference to using chloroform to make a person fall unconscious.
A caption on the video reads: “Whe the manager says you need to get more customers in”(sic).
The post received immediate backlash on social media before the cafe deleted it.
One TikTok user said: “Not sure this is the best marketing campaign” while another said “I would probably delete this”.
The Dublin Rape Crisis Centre have hit out at the skit
A third wrote: “Is this meant to be funny” while another asked: “This is not it, is this type of behaviour funny to you?” The Dublin Rape Crisis Centre also slammed the social media skit.
Speaking to the Irish Mirror, Chief Executive of Dublin Rape Crisis Centre, Rachel Morrogh, said: “I understand that the people who featured in the clip probably didn’t intend to cause any harm, but the trivialisation of violence against women is a symptom of the rape culture that Dublin Rape Crisis Centre is trying to eliminate.
“Making light of a woman being drugged and dragged away normalises gender-based violence and minimises the harm it causes.”
She added: “I would urge any business with a public platform to ensure that staff are have received sexual violence awareness training.
“This is particularly important for those working in pubs and clubs where there is a higher risk of drug-facilitated violence like the video is depicting.”
She continued: “Gender-based violence is something countless people have experienced, or live in fear of when they go out. To trivialise that, particularly from a business that serves the public, betrays a deep lack of understanding of what survivors have lived through.
“Anyone affected by sexual violence can contact our 24-hour national helpline on 1800 77 8888, which is free and confidential.”
In a statement, a Cafe28 said: “We recently shared what we intended to be a light hearted video, which was supposed to showcase the lengths our team would go to in bringing in new customers.
“On reflection the content was not in good taste and we were made aware it had been interpreted in a way we did not intend. As soon as this was highlighted to us, we removed the video.
“On reflection, we recognise that it missed the mark. We sincerely apologise for any offence caused.”
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