‘Catch the virus’ promotion at Washington bar leads workers to quit, bands to cancel

Owners of a Washington bar say a “catch the virus” promotion was a bad joke after employees quit and bands canceled shows over the COVID-19 stunt.

“Come see the show, maybe catch the virus, or just stay home and whine,” read a Jan. 21 Facebook post by the Vessel Taphouse. “Tickets 10 bucks or 6 with proof of omicron positive test. Have you had enough???”

The pirate-themed bar in Lynnwood says the post, which has since been taken down, led four employees to quit, The Daily Herald reported. Three bands canceled shows.

“I was appalled,” Johnny Angel with Seattle-based Atrocity Girl, which had been scheduled to play a show at the bar, told KIRO. “I was really, really disappointed that anybody could ever really make a post like that.”

On its own Facebook page, Atrocity Girl reposted the Vessel Taphouse promotion, adding, “we do not condone this behavior and do not think COVID is a joke.”

Vessel Taphouse manager Brad Skurlock told KIRO the post was in jest and the employee responsible has been fired.

“We were getting comments that we were trying to infect the public,” bar owner Steve Hartley told The Daily Herald. “Clearly we have no interest in that. People aren’t going to come and drink if they get sick, and we know that.”

In a Jan. 25 Instagram post, the bar said the “situation has been handled internally” and declared “conversation OVER.”

The post, purporting to be from the bar’s legal counsel, also said social media posts criticizing the bar have been saved and condemned what it said were threats to burn down the bar.

“STOP NOW,” the post read.

More than 373 million cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed worldwide with more than 5.6 million deaths as of Sunday, Jan. 30, according to Johns Hopkins University. The United States has had more than 74 million confirmed cases with more than 883,000 deaths.

This story was originally published January 30, 2022 at 11:08 AM with the headline "‘Catch the virus’ promotion at Washington bar leads workers to quit, bands to cancel."