As retweeted by Rate Beer, one of three he’s following, along with Beer Advocate and the Lost Abbey, some prankster has set up a Twitter account under the name “mjbeer” with Michael’s photo as the avatar and “The REAL Michael Jackson Beer Twitter” in the Bio.
So far, only three tweets have been done, all within a little over an hour. The first is a review of the Lost Abbey’s Angel’s Share.
Drinking Lost Abbey 2008 Brandy Barrel Angels Share. This beer is cloyingly sweet and undercarbonated. It’s official I’m rolling in my grave.
In the second, he (or she) confesses it’s all a “little joke” and hopes they’re “not offending anyone.”
Waiting for ratebeer to reboot. It appears that they have found my little joke. I hope that I am not offending anyone. More reviews to come.
I’m pretty hard to offend and have a fairly broad sense of humor, but reading tweets purporting to be from an old friend and colleague who died tragically too soon less than two years ago is, I must say, more than a little offensive. Am I off the mark here? Am I being a stick in the mud? Does anyone find this funny? I’m pretty sure Michael’s estate won’t find someone impersonating him very funny. It just seems wildly inappropriate to me and in very bad taste.
UPDATE: I’m happy to report that the mjbeer Twitter account appears to have been deleted and removed.
Hi Jay;
I can sympathize with your discomfort at the faux Michael Jackson Twitter account. I am sorry for the loss of your friend and I was also a big fan of Michael Jackson.
I choose to not believe the account and commentary by the MJ stand-in is not done out of disrespect and actually probably more as a tribute.
My impression of the original Michael J., was that he had a very well developed sense of humor and appreciation of irony. You, knowing the man, would know better but I would expect that he would approve, and probably chuckle about it over a good beer.
Yeah, I think it’s pretty lame and isn’t funny at all.
I have someone who periodically posts comments from long-dead Pennsylvania brewers on my blog. That’s kind of funny. But this? I’ve got a pretty broad sense of humor myself, and this is not funny. ‘Offensive’ is polite, Jay.
I agree with you. It’s distasteful and in my opinion a little cruel.
Totally f***ed up.
It is distasteful. If nothing else, it’s capitalizing on the name of a guy who made their beer world possible. Is this how they are generating traffic? I guess I should stop trying to do mine through content.
J: MJ lugged a very heavy word processor around for years as the very thought of a computer sent him into fits of apoplexy. MJ Tweeting is not only offensive but technologically improbable.
Maybe twenty years from now, it might be in good fun if cleverly done, and as a homage to Micheal Jackson. It’s too soon after his death to be anything but in poor taste.
It is dumb and decidedly unfunny, but offensive, no. Being offended is a choice, one chooses to be offended. I think we spend altogether too much time these days being offended by things which we are better off ignoring. That is the treatment that this stuff deserves. All of the indignation simply fuels more.
Ben, I can’t agree that people “choose” to be offended, any more than someone chooses to be gay. Any reaction to something, if authentic, usually happens organically based on whatever is perceived. I know people can “fake” offense to further an agenda or for political motives, but I’m talking about real offense. “Offensive” is defined as “causing resentful displeasure; highly irritating, angering, or annoying.” That certainly fits my reaction. I was annoyed and a little angered and it did cause some displeasure at dredging up those emotions. Michael was a friend, someone I admired and looked up to, but also enjoyed having a pint with and discussing jazz or literature. I was very shaken by his untimely passing. I agree that there are an increasing number of incidents where offense may be unwarranted or used to an advantage, but for me personally this was not one of them.
-Very distasteful indeed. I’m glad they decided to remove it. If you have to post: “I hope I’m not offending anyone”, than you probably are, and you probably know it.
Fair enough, you are different than I am and we disagree on this point. I can most certainly talk myself out of wasting time being annoyed or angry about something stupid and insignificant that takes place on the interweb. My initial reaction might be anger, but I control it from that point onward. Unless you think that some asshat can really sully the name of a great man with something so sophomoric, I think my advice to ignore idiots is sound. This kind of thing can take years off your life. People like this are just not worth it.
Jay, you’re not wrong, very offensive, and I’m almost impossible to offend.