EXETER — Flamingos Coffee Bar owner MacKenzie Logan has grown accustomed to brushing off the occasional hateful comments she receives.
However, when a customer described her pink-and-floral-themed walls and all-women staffed café at 56 Lincoln St. as “disgustingly pro-women,” Logan decided to turn the negative remark into something positive.
Logan, who also owns Flamingos Coffee Bar at Hampton Beach, recently launched T-shirts emblazoned with the phrase “Disgustingly Pro-Women.” The shirts, available in pink and charcoal and sizes small to XXL, are priced at $30 each. Twenty percent of the proceeds are being donated to Womenade of Greater Squamscott.
The phrase originated from a two-star Yelp review posted online a couple of weeks ago by a customer who felt “unwelcome” in the café and stated he “probably wouldn’t return.”
“Place was disgustingly pro-women, and just walking inside, I immediately felt unwelcome as a male,” the reviewer stated. “Terrible business model, also a huge rip-off of Mary Lou’s with the pink decor inside. Probably wouldn’t return.”
Negative Yelp review inspires ‘Disgustingly pro-women T-shirt’
Logan, who was on a family vacation when the review was posted online, was momentarily taken aback by the comment.
However, she joked, “maybe people will want T-shirts or something.”
“I think he walked in and saw that there was a theme that revolved around pink… (the cafe) is inspired around Miami/ West Coast vibes, relaxed, florals, and I have an all-female staff at the moment as well… and I think someone felt a certain way about that and perhaps didn’t appreciate it,” she said. “Funnily enough, that comment had nothing to do with our products or services. I think it’s just rooted from ignorance and maybe some sexism in there.”
Logan decided to screenshot the review, blur out the name, and post a poll on Flamingos’ Instagram page, which has nearly 16,000 followers. She asked if she should create merchandise with the phrase “Disgustingly Pro-Women,” offering two options: “Yes” and “Yes, but in pink.”
Within 24 hours, the poll went viral, garnering over 2,000 responses and hundreds of messages from people worldwide. Logan reported selling at least 400 T-shirts, with orders coming in not just from across the country, but as far away as Australia.
“It kind of just snowballed into this effect where a lot of women were feeling some type of way about the comment I received,” she said. “He was trying to insult us, but actually, it was quite a compliment. The more I thought about it, I’m so proud to be disgustingly pro-women.”
Flamingos’ owner proud to be ‘disgustingly pro-women’
Logan said she chose to donate 20% of proceeds from the T-shirt sales to Womenade of Greater Squamscott because of her history of working with the nonprofit. Womenade provides urgent financial assistance to women in need, covering expenses such as car repairs and essential items like baby diapers.
“Let’s turn this into good, let’s help local women – we are pro-women,” she said.
Logan said she created Flamingos not only out of her passion for coffee but also to provide a space that promotes inclusivity. The cafe in Exeter opened just shy of two years ago as an expansion to her successful first location at 27 B St. in Hampton.
Logan said she no longer thinks of the phrase “Disgustingly Pro-Women” as an insult, but rather as something that empowers her.
“Usually people like that aren’t worth responding to… but the particular phrase that this reviewer used was just so funny,” she said. “It was just a silly comment, and it just elicited such a strong reaction from a lot of people, so I decided to feel empowered by it.”
