US White House diplomacy has dipped to a new low after it emerged that US President Donald Trump’s luxury golf resort in Turnberry, Scotland, has banned the sale of Irn-Bru on the premises.
The ban came to light after guests asked for Scotland’s favorite non-alcoholic beverage to be supplied at an event, but were refused because staff members were concerned about spills.
The combination of colorants that give the fizzy drink its distinctive luminous orange hue are believed to be responsible for its notorious indelibility.
The five-star resort on the Ayrshire coast has recently benefited from a ￡200 million (US$270.64 million) upgrade, which is believed to have included hundreds of thousands of pounds spent on carpets.
Turnberry general manager Ralph Porciani told the Ayrshire Post: “We can’t have it staining when to replace the ballroom carpet would be ￡500,000 alone. We have villas here with Irn-Bru stains in the carpets which I can’t let.”
Trump, whose mother was born on the island of Lewis, also owns a golf resort in Aberdeenshire and is expected to meet Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II at Balmoral Castle during a controversial visit that is planned for July 13.
Scottish Labour leader Richard Leonard has pledged to lead the protests against Trump.
“Someone who holds such misogynist, racist and anti-trade union views — not to mention his whole approach to foreign policy — someone who rejects the Paris climate change agreement, should simply not be given the red-carpet treatment,” he said
Scottish Greens leader Patrick Harvie vowed that Trump would be “met with a level of protest not seen since the Iraq war.”
Irn-Bru — which is not, despite its famous advertising tagline, actually made from girders, but does contain a total of 32 flavoring agents — consistently outsells all other fizzy drinks in Scotland.
First produced in 1901 under the name Iron Brew, Irn-Bru has cultivated a maverick status amid other beverage behemoths such as Coca-Cola, producing near-the-knuckle adverts including a billboard of a cow with the tagline: “When I’m a burger, I want to be washed down with Irn-Bru,” which drew 700 complaints.
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