Lee Garrett, freeholder of the pub in Llanfihangel Talyllyn, Wales, said the removal of the page in November came at ‘the worst possible time’ in the build-up to Christmas.
“The nearest town is six or seven miles away. During the winter months it’s how we get the word out there,” he told the Publican’s Morning Advertiser.
“People like to book Christmas parties - maybe we did lose some. If there’s not information online then some people won’t bother.”
Garrett was first alerted to the removal of the page, which had 450 members, after customers complained of not being able to find the Christmas offer online.
“The page was set up for locals. All of a sudden it had been suspended. I thought ‘what’s going on here’. We had a message saying it had been removed due to racist or offensive language,” he said.
Complaint
The publican believes the problem stemmed from a complaint to Facebook, as he’s had the occasional issue with the pub’s name.
“A woman phoned recently and said the name is offensive, and the kids have to cover their eyes every time she drives past,” he explained.
“It’s not from any of our customers. 99% of people understand that there’s history behind the pub. It’s an agricultural area; it was a farming community when the pub opened 175 years ago.
Cockerel
“The name is about a black cockerel. That’s literally all it means. People might find it funny to troll us or they might genuinely find it offensive, I don’t know.”
Garrett said initially the pub suffered from the lack of social media promotions, but since his issues were publicised in the local press, people have joined his pub’s new website - minimising the damage.
He’s gone through Facebook’s appeal process, and now has business page on the social media site.
Facebook told the PMA the name of the page was not against its terms, and the pub was being offered a business page. But Garrett maintains the page was suspended for 'racism'.
History
Garrett has been told by a regular he’s not the first Black Cock Inn owner to have problems with the name.
“We spoke to a customer who said ‘I don’t know if you’ve heard this, but you’re not the first this has happened to. There was a Black Cock Inn north of Cardiff who couldn’t get a new Facebook page set up for six months’. There are a few pubs which refer to cockerels spread out around Wales,” he added.
But Garrett has no plans to change the name, as he’s keen to preserve the history of the pub.
Have you had complaints about your pub's name? Email oli.gross@wrbm.com