Pub named after Colombian drug lord to revamp logo

Escobar in China Square Central came under the spotlight after the Colombian Embassy took issue with its branding last week. The pub has apologised, but its owner said the name will remain as it is a common Spanish surname.
Escobar in China Square Central came under the spotlight after the Colombian Embassy took issue with its branding last week. The pub has apologised, but its owner said the name will remain as it is a common Spanish surname. ST PHOTO: ONG WEE JIN

The owner of gastropub Escobar, named after the Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar, has agreed to revamp its logo and images of his likeness on the premises after consultations with the Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) and the police on Wednesday.

Mr Stan Sri Ganesh, 36, hopes to unveil the new logo in a month or so.

The Escobar-themed gastropub, however, will not change its name as it is a common Spanish surname, he said. "We now recognise that this could be a sensitive issue to some members of the community. We were just using his image as a pop culture reference, but in no way wanted to condone or glorify the actions of Pablo Escobar."

Mr Ganesh said he has also received death threats and other abusive comments on Facebook.

"It's a pity that the community that is telling us not to encourage violence and abuse is the same community that is threatening to harm our families, bomb the place and assassinate us," he said, adding that the police have advised him to report such comments.

The three-week-old gastropub in China Square Central came under the spotlight after the Embassy of Colombia took issue with its branding last week. In a three-page letter to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs dated Feb 2, it expressed "serious concern" that the bar was paying tribute to the "worst criminal in the history of Colombia", Agence France-Presse reported.

"The Embassy of the Republic of Colombia wants to share some information to refresh the horror that this criminal caused in Colombia... not to mention the drug addiction he promoted and the war he declared," the letter said.

"If the idea of the owner was to make his or her business look profitable and trendy, it is inducing... confusion, because Colombia is not what 'Narcos-Netflix' portrays any more", referring to the drama series on Colombian drug cartels shown on the American streaming service.

Escobar was a notorious Colombian drug kingpin in the 1980s whose Medellin cartel supplied up to 80 per cent of the cocaine smuggled into the United States, making him the wealthiest criminal in history. Thousands of people lost their lives during his reign over the cartel as he often kidnapped and killed anyone who stood in his way.

A CNB spokesman said in a statement that the use of Escobar's name and likeness is "highly objectionable and runs counter to Singapore's zero-tolerance approach towards drugs and to our efforts in preventive drug education".

"The glamorisation of a drug kingpin and associated drug use is irresponsible and insensitive," said the spokesman.

The gastropub later apologised in a Facebook post on Wednesday and announced that it will revamp its logo.

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on February 09, 2018, with the headline Pub named after Colombian drug lord to revamp logo. Subscribe