Gin maker got 'looting and shooting' ad 'wrong'

The advert was criticised online, with internet users calling it "tasteless"

A distillery that posted a "looting and shooting" advert referencing a Donald Trump tweet has apologised and said it "will not happen again".

Bristol Dry Gin tweeted its "high flammability" gin had been "voted No 1 by rioters", amid protests in the US over the death of George Floyd.

It was widely criticised and a cafe and retailer removed the gin from sale.

The firm said it was sorry for the "insensitive tweet" and insisted "it was not a calculated publicity stunt".

This is not the first time the company has courted controversy.

In 2018, in the wake of the Salisbury Novichok poisonings, it was heavily criticised and later apologised for launching a "Novichok" vodka range. The range is still on sale on the firm's website.

The firm insists its latest tweet - which has since been deleted - was a "misjudged attempt to make a joke".

A spokesman for the firm said: "We are genuinely sorry for causing offence. We were nothing other than devastated about the negative impact we had."

Bristol Dry Gin had not foreseen its tweet would have "such an impact", the spokesman said, and had not dealt with the "fallout" well, fearing it would make "things worse".

He added the company was "determined not to make a similar mistake again" and had made contact with Black Lives Matter.

"We got it very badly wrong," he said,

"We want to better understand the situation and ensure that we are better educated."

The firm also said it had contacted SARI (Stand Against Racism and Inequality) with an offer to "support its work".

SARI declined to comment due to Blackout Tuesday.

The phrase "when the looting starts, the shooting starts" was coined by Miami police chief Walter Headley in 1967, in reference to his aggressive policing policies in black neighbourhoods.

President Trump's tweet using the phrase was recently hidden by Twitter for "glorifying violence."