September 25: “We have contacted Miller Brewing and expect that they will cooperate and do what is ethically right.”
—Bill Donohue, regarding Miller Brewing’s logo on a Folsom Street Fair poster featuring half-naked gay men mocking the Last Supper
September 26: “We understand some individuals may find the imagery offensive and we have asked the organizers to remove our logo from the poster effective immediately.”
—Miller Brewing news release
September 26: “Tomorrow night, the group that Miller is funding via the festival will hold ‘The Last Supper With the Sisters,’ an event that will ridicule this sacred moment in history. Indeed, on its website it describes this sick stunt as the best way ‘to prepare your mortal flesh for the kinkiest weekend on Earth.’ (Its emphasis.)”
—Bill Donohue, referring to the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, a group of gay men who dress up as nuns and ridicule the Catholic Church
September 26: “Apparently, Miller has decided to side with a small band of depraved and bigoted gays against Catholics (25 percent of the population) and Protestants (60 percent of the nation). This is an ethical and marketing fiasco of colossal proportions….The collision course that Miller wants with Christians is now on.”
—Bill Donohue, after the Catholic League learned that Miller decided to continue its sponsorship of the Folsom Street Fair
September 27: “Miller leaves us with no options: we are calling on more than 200 Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist and Hindu organizations to join with us in a nationwide boycott of Miller beer. We feel confident that once our religious allies kick in, and once the public sees the photos of an event Miller is proudly supporting, the Milwaukee brewery will come to its senses and pull its sponsorship altogether.”
—Bill Donohue, after Miller again refused to withdraw support of the fair even after learning that some money raised at the event was going to the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence
September 28: “Miller Brewing will now be known as S&M Miller, and that is because it has apparently decided to drop anchor with the sadomasochistic festival that it is proudly sponsoring on Sunday [Sept. 30] at the Folsom Street Fair….If S&M Miller doesn’t pull its sponsorship, we will announce a game plan on Monday that will make the company regret it ever decided to insult Christians.”
—Bill Donohue, on Miller’s continued refusal to drop its support of the fair
October 1: “We regret that our failure to adhere to our own policy led to an inappropriate use of our trademark and apologize to anyone who was offended as a result, particularly members of the Christian community who have contacted us to express their concern. We are conducting an immediate audit of our procedures for approving local marketing and sales sponsorships to ensure that this does not happen again.”
—Miller Brewing news release
October 1: “We called Miller today asking for clarification of this statement, and we are pleased to note that a full-scale review of all its promotional policies is underway….We expect that Miller will resolve this issue before too long.”
—Bill Donohue, responding to Miller’s statement
October 4: “If Miller wants to be so bold as to throw Catholics and Protestants overboard for the sake of siding with the most morally depraved persons in our society—persons with whom no self-respecting heterosexual or homosexual would ever associate—then it must suffer the consequences. The boycott is on, and now the campaign to blanket religious and secular leaders in the Milwaukee community with the evidence of Miller’s complicity in this sordid affair has begun.”
—Bill Donohue, after Miller failed to promise never again to sponsor an anti-Christian event
October 9: “It is hard to imagine the Coors family, with its stellar reputation, as well as the Molsons, a distinguished Canadian family, wanting to support public displays of religious bigotry and sodomy. That is why we are asking them to carefully examine Miller’s promotional policies and pledge that sponsorship of these kinds of morally indefensible events will never happen again.”
—Bill Donohue, after Miller and Molson Coors Brewing announced they would combine U.S. operations as early as the end of 2007
