Rickshaw Bar in Richmond apologises after being criticised over Vietnam War theme

A Melbourne bar with a “radical” approach has been roasted online before its page deleted comments that would have had “investors crying”.

A recently opened Melbourne bar has “revised (its) tone” and scrubbed its social media page after being crucified online for its Vietnam War theme, described by many as “gross”, “tone deaf”, “hurtful and insensitive”, before the comments were all deleted.

Rickshaw Bar is located on Swan St in Richmond, an area with a large Vietnamese migrant population, including some who may have fled the very conflict the new bar has been accused of exploiting.

On its website it invites prospective customers to “settle into a booth or bunker down at the bar,” adding “there’s no smoke without fire”.

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This picture illustrates a dystopia that looks further into the future than the Vietnam conflict is in the past. Picture: Instagram / Rickshaw Bar

Rickshaw Bar tried something more ’radical’. Picture: Instagram / Rickshaw Bar

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In one of many since-deleted posts on its Instagram page, where comments have also been disabled, Rickshaw claimed it was trying to go for “something a little more radical” with its bar, which prominently features a bright orange colour scheme that many have said is a reference to the Agent Orange chemical weapon used during the Vietnam War.

“What are you alluding to with the orange theme?” One person asked in the comments, seen by news.com.au, that have since been deleted.

“Do you not have a shred of self awareness or empathy?” The commenter added.

“Might go and have a quick word with them,” another person wrote on Twitter.

“An uncle who served in Vietnam had a mass cut out of his chest. Recalled the constant spraying over head, over troops,” they added.

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The bar's promotion of responsible drinking is probably the closest it has come to making social media commenters happy. Picture: Instagram / Rickshaw Bar

A caption over a sleeping Vietnamese man instructs the audience to ‘stop lying around’ while another of a Vietnamese man asleep on his motorcycle was used to announce the bar was closed. Visitors to Vietnam will have likely spotted the culture of napping during the height of the day, when it’s often too hot to work. Picture: Instagram / Rickshaw Bar

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Another post is a simple typography of a quote from the movie Apocalypse Now, set against the backdrop of the Vietnam War.

“Are my methods unsound?” The post reads.

“Yes, rebrand.” One commenter said, echoing many others requesting the place change its theme.

“You guys need to rebrand, apologise to Melbourne’s Vietnamese community and pay reparations for this atrocity,” another advised.

“I can hear the investors crying at these comments … as they should,” said another.

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The dog tags feature the name of the bar as opposed to a soldier killed in the long-running Vietnam conflict. Picture: Instagram / Rickshaw Bar

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Others have said the bar’s embrace of the Vietnam War aesthetic is also too soon after the conflict occurred, with one noting “there are people alive today who know what napalm feels like on their skin”.

A number of posts feature freshly made drinks with bullets either in the glass or around them.

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Bullets feature in many of the posts. Picture: Instagram / Rickshaw Bar

The bar’s theme has prompted accusations of fetishisation of Vietnam. Picture: Instagram / Rickshaw Bar

Australian Securities and Investments Commission records show Rickshaw Bar is owned by Humulus Holdings, which also owns a nearby “contemporary craft beer and Asian dining locale” called Kekou.

The principal of Humulus declined to comment when reached by phone on Wednesday afternoon.

A few hours later all posts had been deleted from the Rickshaw Bar Instagram page and replace with an apology.

“We have taken down our content and apologise to anyone that was offended or found the content inappropriate.

“We have revised our tone and are working hard to make this right. Sorry for any distress caused – it was never our intent.”

Rickshaw Bar took down its content and "revised our tone". Picture: Instagram / Rickshaw Bar