Knife Fight in the Blue Dome District: A Modern-Day Outsiders

5 months AGO

Blake Ewing pissed off a couple of local hipsters—or “people like them”—with his “Open Letter to Tulsa Area Hipsters From Blake Ewing,” published as an advertisement for The Max Retropub in the current issue of This Land.

Ewing, who owns the 1-year-old ‘80s-inspired bar, as well as the nearby Joe Momma’s pizza joint, Back Alley Blues & BBQ and Boomtown Tees, and who was just elected city councilor for Tulsa’s District 4, where downtown lies, used the text-laden ad to reach out to the folks whom he says helped establish The Max when it first opened.

He writes:

We opened The Max Retropub a little over a year ago. Hipsters (and people like them) rejoiced at the retro-themed bar with its arcade games and skee-ball machines. Our unclean, greasy-haired, heavily tattooed bartenders made you feel welcome and our old games and music took you back to your childhood. Our cheap PBR, Olympia, Stroh’s, and Colt 45 delighted your ironic sensibilities. We had done something special. We made a cool little bar that offered something different. The downtown scene and the hipsters who keep it alive embraced The Max.

Ewing went on to apologize for the weekend clientele—“Chads and Ashleys” and “Tulsans wearing extra medium affliction shirts”—who seem, according to Ewing, to be running off the hipster regulars. So Ewing offered to make Monday through Thursday “Hipster Days,” offering beer and food specials and discounts on arcade games in an effort to boost weeknight business.

At least one person took offense to his offer. Writing anonymously, a blogger at Project Free Thought (a site registered to Derek Dyson) called Ewing out for being demeaning and for representing the very thing hipsters rail against.

In “an open letter to blake ewing from….. the hipsters?,” he (or she) writes:

First, let me clear some things up. “Hipsters” and “people like them” (as you so eloquently put it) did not build The Max. Honestly, they didn’t even frequent it when it was all shiny and brand new…

Ironically (and I say that ironically) you took the time to pen an open letter that could have been an apology for bussing in douche bags and bros on the weekends (a necessary evil we all know we’ll have to live with if downtown is going to flourish) and instead took that opportunity to start a Sunday through Thursday marketing campaign. An irrational last ditch effort to get the very people you openly scoffed (the hipster) to swarm in and help your bottom line…

Honestly, I think that what you’re failing to understand here is that you are not like us. You’re a southey, a soc (yes, midtown is too far) and we can spot a fake from a mile away. This means you’re never going to get our money or our support. Don’t let this dissuade you. You can bring your fellow Philistines downtown on the weekends to spend their money and fight each other in our streets, but we expect them to go home after-wards. This is our truce, our turf war in the park.

The writer also points out that Ewing’s marketing ploy is the type of thing that typically perturbs hipsters. “…(I)f you have any character what-so-ever you won’t focus on marketing to fucking hipsters. This, because hipsters above all else, are a social group that universally loathe any establishment trying to tell them what is cool, what to do or what to buy.”

Both letters caused quite a frenzy on Facebook, with fans and friends weighing in on both sides. Some though Ewing was being intentionally patronizing, while others just thought he was trying to make a few bucks for his bar. Some thought the self-proclaimed hipster was right on target with his response, while others felt he overreacted.

Ewing himself weighed in on the online debate via Hardwork Records owner Jeff Richardson’s wall. He said The Max has seen some “interesting social class battles” since the south Tulsa weekenders starting mixing with the downtown-dwelling hipsters. “The hipsters made downtown what it is and are the ones who hang downtown during the weekdays. It wasn’t meant as an insult to hipsters,” he wrote.

I knew what I was doing when I bought the ad. The angry and opinionated hipsters will stretch the value of my dollar by blogging it and tweeting it and discussing it with all of their friends for me, and everyone else will see that I have a long track record of appreciating and supporting local artists of all kinds, and that I create unique locally owned businesses and dedicate my life to making our downtown something unique and special. It wasn’t meant as some laugh out loud joke, though it was written with a wink and a smile. It wasn’t meant to degrade hipsters. Why would I want to do that? I’m confident that most of the local hipster community knows that I care about them and that I credit them for making our city unique and special. They know that I really want them to feel appreciated at my establishments. This Land has never run an ad that has created so much chatter. . . which is the intent.

—Holly Wall, News Editor

Dave Short

This all happened because Blake broke the first rule: Dont Feed The Hipsters.
//|_

I call BULL, Ewing.
Herm2012

Greasers and soc’s? We’re talking about a stupid BAR. Nobody’s bringing a knife to this fistfight. Nobody. Maybe a mixtape, but definitely not a knife. Ever. Ha!
Brooke

It’s funny! Why people gotta be so uptight?
dc

Could anything be less significant than this?
Jobless-Hipster

Do hipsters have any money to actually spend anyway? Having a job is too mainstream for a lot of them.
Heckwms48

OK, let me get this straight..’Hipsters’ go to a Retrodork bar?
http://www.facebook.com/mcooperphotog Michael Cooper

Ewing wrote a tongue-in-cheek letter in an advertisement. Get off your fucking high-horse “hipsters”. I can’t believe this is a big deal to anyone in Tulsa.

Tell you what. Support your community: log off your internet adn go to the fucking Holiday parade.
Jay

Some really well thought out and educated responses in this thread.
I think Councilor Ewing was brave to open a place that caters to a group that will only spend $7.53 on any given visit (no tip either). If you are comparing yourselves to the Tulsa thugs (or greasers as we call them) of the 40′s & 50′s, you are way off the mark.No hipster I have ever met has even the remotest idea of how to fix an engine, kick ass in a rumble or even boost a car for a joyride. You people sit at starbucks, wear V-necks with a scarf and cover yourself in tattoo’s that you will surely regret after that first job interview.Keep in mind most of the “greasers” you compare yourself to ended up, years later, in the frozen ditches of Korea and the sweltering jungles of Vietnam. You will end up pouring my double espresso for minimum wage.In the meantime, keep on keepin on and make it a double.
Gfdd

Worst title ever Holly.
Guestwashere

Worst title ever Holly.
Okashay

My phone keeps posting before I finish. Apologies! I just thought the title was a bit scary. You’re talking about some of the most intelligent locals writing (and whining) opinions, no violence!
JohnBender

So, define hipster really clearly for everyone first, then let’s see if we can get past the pointless argument and understand that this guy is in it for one thing: money, period. The labels we put on people are really meaningless in the first place. It is hard to believe Blake would be so insensitive to people. Maybe it’s time for him to watch “The Breakfast Club” and write us all an open letter on what he thinks the kids learned from their day in detention. (note, don’t just copy the letter that the kids wrote you bozo).

PS: The service at the Back Alley Blues & BBQ is terrible.
TulsaNonHipster

If people are so offended by it, then don’t visit his establishments. I personally can’t stand the guy, he is always putting someone down…people unnecessarily praise him. The food at Back Alley isn’t that great, the service sucks, Joe Mommas pizza is okay (definitely not as good as Hideaway) and the Max is just another overcrowded bar trying to be “HIP”. I quit going to his establishments and tell friends and family not to go to them either. His ads are always rude and condescending, whether it be about other local businesses, divorced dads competing with their baby mommas over whose weekend visit was better or in this case singling out hipsters and south Tulsans (who all happen to be Tulsans)! What a douche!
guest

social awareness, you, television
guest

any other cliches you would like to isolate completely out of context? you likely have several other opinions to project on us… what a collectively clueless statement you have made.
derek dyson

For the record, I’m probably too old to be a full-on hipster
and we don’t really know each other, but I definitely know my way around an
engine. I rebuilt my VW rabbit from the ground up, including its 1.6l diesel
rattler. I haven’t punched anyone since
high school and I’d never fight in a war so I definitely miss the mark on
those aspects of greaser-dom. I was actually using the “outsiders” reference to
highlight the social divide and it seemed relevant because of its obvious
historic ties in Tulsa culture.

As for the other jabs, a fair percentage of my friends have
a college education and hold pretty decent jobs, and the ones that don’t seem
pretty ok with it. I’ve personally
been a homeowner in the Pearl District since ’01 and have a respectable career
working for the School District. That said, I’ve got tattoos, own a few v-necks
and have definitely pulled my far share of espresso shots, throughout my
college years and beyond. A fact
that I am actually very proud of considering that I played an active roll in
developing a coffee culture in this city that has put Tulsa on the map in the
best of specialty coffee circles. I wouldn’t be caught dead in a starbucks though.

Again, I’ll say that I’m probably not the hippest of the hip
for multiple reasons, but I am definitely a downtown kid that is passionate
about this city. After Blakes ad
started popping up on newsfeeds, being universally despised by everyone I knew,
I thought a reply was in order. Originally meant for the people in my circles,
I threw something together for those I knew felt the same way I did. As expected they
applauded it as did many others in similar groups around the city that I have
little to no ties with.

Obviously, no one nominated me as a spokes person, but
that’s irrelevant when considering how broad the range of people Blake and his
letter have potentially offended. Either way I stand behind my sentiments whole-heartedly. It wasn’t the best piece I’ve ever written by any means and was
a bit mean spirited, but considering the people he has wronged in the past and
the ones that just despise the way he does things, I feel justified in
it’s tone. I just said publicly what we’ve all been saying in dimly lit bars
and smoke holes for a long time running.
derek dyson

sorry about the way that posted.
Jay

Well since you are asking, I’ll just provide a list for you: Woody Allen glasses that don’t actually have prescription lenses, those huge gauge earrings you likely wear, neck tattoos, the stocking cap setting halfway on your head during summer…Toms…I could go on. Thanks for asking!
Jay

Good response Derek, well written. See you at Topeca!
TheDude

I’m a hipster. If your car is broken I can fix it (I’m an engineer). If you want to rumble, name the place. I’ve served in the military that you haven’t and know the kids I hang out with. They’re hard working, diligent, and tough. Often educated and living on their own efforts. Come enjoy downtown when you are prepared to meet creative people like us. Until then, step off your pedestal and go back behind the white picket fence you came from
Nate G

This topic: Definitely not really a big deal in the scheme of things.
This publicity stunt: veerrry effective!
Congrats on Blake and This Land for shakin things up right!
Hipsters Vs. Soc’s!! yeah!! Kick ass!
…as if.
Holly you summed it up well. good job too.
Jay

Nah, I don’t have a white picket fence, and I served in the Infantry that you didn’t. So get off your ironic pedestal.