The other day I was surprised to find a post or a tweet or something like that from Goulet Pens, an online fountainpen & ink store, that stated that due that it has been brought to their attention that the name and imagery of the Bernanke Red ink was racist, they where going to stop selling Noodler's products until they've got a satisfying answer from the owner, Nathan Tardif. I found that strange, and went to check my bottle (I have a bottle of Bernanke Red in my collection, along with Rome Burning, Atlantic Salmon, Firefly, Aurora Borealis, Apache Sunset, and 54th Massachusetts), and checked the lable.
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| Source: Reddit |
Bernanke Red is, evidently a red color ink, and depicts Ben Bernanke with horns and the hammer and sickle of the Soviet flag.
Now, for context, I'd like to point out that there is a Bernanke Black ink and in it Ben Bernanke has no horns nor Soviet symbology. I don't know the whole of Noodler's inks and the different names, but I do remember an interview with Brian Goulet from Goulet Pens, where Nathan Tardif said he tended to give controversial names to his inks or some of them. I do remember, for instance, that I've got Atlantic Salmon, a pink ink when there was no more Hellfire, the original pink ink I wanted. 54th Massachussets was a name selected after a Regiment of the Union, from the American Civil War, which had African Americans join and which failed to pay them, even though they had a hard time in the war, according to Nathan Tardif. So yes, the controversial names and topics it has chosen are part of the brand.
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| Source: Amazon |
I admit that I am not all that well educated about the Hebrew religion nor have a deeper knowledge of Judaism and the issues Jewish people have gone through other than what we learn in school, so maybe the deeper layers of hurt created by this picture are invisible to me. I read comments that say that Jews have been molested and told to "show their horns", something communist and witches and Pagans have also been told. Personally, I never understood the image to be a matter of "jews are bad" but more of a reference to how people can see the actions of the Federal Reserve (the Fed) as good (black ink) or bad (red ink). Hurt, however, needs to be addressed, which I believe Mr Tardif did. This apology is not mine to accept, and I have not heard of anyone from the Jewish community accepting it or not.
I came to know Noodler's inks some years ago, through a sample set I bought from Goulet Pens, and fell in love with 54th Massachusetts, even though I am not a person who likes blue or blue inks. 54th Massachusetts was the ink that made me make peace with blue ink after... well, after highschool, though I believe I stopped using blue ink when I was 15, and retook it when I was... 40? I ordered my first bottle of 54th Massachusetts from Goulet Pens, and I think I'm still using that one. As soon as things get back to... "sort of normal", I plan to restock and order some more inks, just to make sure I have all I need, and that means more 54th Massachusetts. I may even order a bottle of Bernanke Black, who knows?
I like the inks and I like their colors, their quality, and the amount I get for the money I pay. I like that the bottle is very simple and the lables have interesting art (on some of them). I don't know enough of the company or the owner in order to join a boicot campaing, and I have seen from him a swifter action in the face of controversy than I have seen from bigger brands or influencers. So, in the measure of my means, I will probably continue supporting this brand, while I'll also purchase inks from other brands as well. It's not a matter of exclusivity, and I am buying the ink, not the ideology. For me, clearly the names and the art are a way of marketing, not to promote his libertarian views, but to create buzz, amek people talk and get morbid interest reaching for his products. Maybe one day Noodler's will be able to break free from the controversy to sell his inks, and until that day, if this has been working for him, he will keep doing it. Why not?
