The latest Black Rifle Coffee Company Exclusive Coffee Subscription bag design features former President Richard Nixon sitting atop a M60-wielding panda and various other Vietnam-related Easter eggs.
What do Black Rifle Coffee Company, Richard Nixon, and Cambodia have in common?
Toward the end of the Vietnam War, President Richard Nixon infamously said the US was not invading the neutral Southeast Asia country of Cambodia, while at the exact same time ordering the literal invasion of the neutral Southeast Asia country of Cambodia.
How does coffee fit into the equation? Art.
In 2023, the artwork on three of BRCC’s Exclusive Coffee Subscription roasts features US presidents: Teddy Roosevelt (“Teddy Roastavelt,” January 2023), George Washington (“Beware the Delaware,” February 2023), and debuting in May, Richard Nixon (“We’re Not Here”).
American infantrymen in the 25th Division run for cover as Viet Cong snipers open fire on them after the men were airlifted into the Fishhook area of Cambodia, northwest of Tay Ninh, South Vietnam on May 11, 1970. AP photo by Rick Merron.
If that seems like an odd trio, you’re not wrong.
“We had these two cool ones, and then we have one we're kind of going to make fun of,” Jon Griswold, the BRCC illustrator responsible for the designs, said of the presidents featured on the coffee bags.
Hidden in the bag’s design are several nods to Nixon’s policies and controversies, but the discerning ECS subscriber might also notice some familiar characters.
There's more to Black Rifle Coffee Company's May ECS "We're Not Here" bag than meets the eye.
After discussing the design at length with Griswold, we’ve broken down all the fun Easter eggs you can find on the “We’re Not Here” coffee bag:
President Richard Nixon and FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover meet in Washington on May 27, 1971, to discuss killings of police officers in New York City and Washington. AP photo by Henry Burroughs.
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Katie McCarthy is the managing editor for Coffee or Die Magazine. Her career in journalism began at the Columbus (Georgia) Ledger-Enquirer in 2008, where she learned to navigate the newsroom as a features reporter, copy editor, page designer, and online producer; prior to joining Coffee or Die, she worked for Outdoor Sportsman Group as an editor for Guns & Ammo magazine and their Special Interest Publications division. Katie currently lives in Indiana with her husband and two daughters.
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