Auckland club slammed for mocking homeless people in its advertising

Auckland's Bar 101 has been slammed for its "controversial" advertising that mocks the city's homeless people.

In their sponsored ad on Facebook, the Bar asks punters to "save that loose change for student night at Bar 101 this Wednesday".

But it was their dig at homeless people that has caused an uproar.

"Why I don't give money to homeless people: 1. They need it for alcohol; 2. I need it for alcohol", their post goes on to say.

A number of customers have since expressed their disgust at the bar, with some labelling their post as "f**ked up" and "not funny in the slightest".

One person said the bar's message is damaging to homeless people and creates an "unfair" and "incorrect" stereotype of those struggling on Auckland's streets.

"Not only is this not funny, but it is also completely void of taste. If you think this type of content is appropriate for publication, you are sorely mistaken," one critic wrote on Facebook.

"I take back my last tag about potentially going back to bar 101... Wtf"

Another outraged punter told the Herald: "It's a bit f**ked up if I'm honest. In a country where homelessness is a huge problem, I don't think it's right that a shitty club can throw all the homeless population into one stereotype."

He goes on to say: "All it does is encourage people to drink and reinforce the usually incorrect opinion that the homeless will spend all the money on the piss.

"The homeless population just want somewhere to sleep and something to eat. But hey, let's just encourage what is one of the worst drinking cultures in the western world as well as supporting inhumanity.

"I don't mean to sound like 'that guy' but a lot of the homeless people are just like me and you, and the last thing they'd spend $3 on is a s**tty drink."

However, Bar 101 is sticking by their post, saying that many people found the post funny.

A Bar 101 spokesperson told the Herald they wanted to make their target audience laugh and the intention wasn't to offend anyone.

"We are aware of five comments in the thread on that post from people who didn't find the post funny, but at the time of writing, more than 175 people have liked the post, with over a third of those responding with a laugh emoji," they told the Herald.

"We wanted to make our target market, students, laugh by drawing attention in a humorous way to the fact that a lot of students like to drink alcohol but they also spend most of their time feeling like they don't have enough money to afford a social life.

"It wasn't meant to offend anyone but, unfortunately, it seems that these days offending people is almost unavoidable.

"Just because you are offended, it doesn't mean that everybody else is."

The bar also took to social media following their post, taking aim at critics.

Responding to one disgruntled customer, the bar wrote: "Luckily for us, nobody died and made you the judge of what is and isn't acceptable behaviour. Don't take life so seriously. You'll probably live longer."

Some customers defended the bar, with some claiming "it's a joke" and telling critics to "get over themselves".