Last Updated on July 6, 2026
‘Sue, you’re shouting at tea’
#solidaritea trended UK-wide
65,500+ likes on one reply
Zero paid spend
The move
In February 2020, Chancellor Rishi Sunak tweeted a photo of himself making a brew next to a giant bag of Yorkshire Tea. The brand had not asked for it, was not involved, and suddenly faced boycott threats from people furious about a politician’s tea preference.
Yorkshire Tea’s response became the stuff of social media legend. A patient thread explained that brands do not get to choose who drinks their tea, asked people to ‘try to be kind’, and, when one user kept going, replied simply: ‘Sue, you’re shouting at tea.’ Then it muted her. #SueYoureShoutingAtTea trended nationwide.
Four months later, a far-right vlogger tweeted that she was ‘dead chuffed’ Yorkshire Tea had not publicly backed Black Lives Matter. The brand replied within hours: ‘Please don’t buy our tea again. We’re taking some time to educate ourselves and plan proper action before we post. We stand against racism.’ The reply gathered over 65,500 likes and 15,800 retweets, passed 10,000 likes within a couple of hours, and #solidaritea trended as PG Tips backed them up. The vlogger changed her bio to ‘disavowed by Yorkshire Tea’, which only spread the story further.
Why it worked
Two storms, two completely different responses, one consistent character. The Sunak episode called for gentle deflation: no politics, no defensiveness, just a mildly exasperated Yorkshire voice reminding everyone it is only tea. The June episode called for a line in the sand, and the brand drew one in nine words without a hashtag campaign or a statement graphic in sight.
What made both land is that neither read as marketing. The tone was recognisably the same brand that spends its ordinary days posting about proper brews and biscuit dunking. When the storm arrived, the voice did not change, so the response felt like character rather than crisis management.
Worth being honest about the measurable outcome: no sales-lift figures were ever published for either episode, and claims of sales spikes circulating online are unsourced. What is verifiable is the engagement, the trending hashtags, and years of goodwill that still gets cited in every brand-voice discussion since.
The principle
You do not choose whether your business gets dragged into a public row. You only choose who you are when it happens. A voice practised in calm times is the only thing that holds up in a storm, and knowing which fights deserve humour and which deserve a line in the sand is the whole skill.
Steal this
Every business is one tag, one review or one local Facebook thread away from its own small storm. Prepare like this.
Practise your voice on the boring days. Yorkshire Tea’s replies worked because they sounded exactly like its everyday posts. If your account only speaks when something is wrong, nothing you say will sound natural.
Sort incoming fire into two piles. Absurd fusses deserve gentle humour and de-escalation. Genuine matters of principle deserve a short, plain statement of where you stand. Mixing the two tones up is how brands end up mocking serious things or solemnly addressing trivia.
Keep it short and human. ‘Sue, you’re shouting at tea’ is six words. ‘Please don’t buy our tea again’ is six words. The longer a public reply gets, the more it reads like a statement drafted by a committee.
Know when to stop engaging. Yorkshire Tea muted Sue rather than winning the argument. Make your point once, clearly, then leave. The follow-up rounds are where goodwill goes to die.
Sources & further reading
- Yorkshire Tea’s response to the Rishi Sunak row · HuffPost UK
- Yorkshire Tea and PG Tips take a stand · CBS News
- Yorkshire Tea on finding its brand voice · The Drum
The Whito verdict
Yorkshire Tea got dragged into two rows it never started and came out of both more loved, because it knew exactly who it was before anyone started shouting. Humour for the absurd fuss, nine plain words for the serious one, and the discipline to mute rather than keep arguing.
For a small business the takeaway is not ‘be funny on Twitter’. It is: decide your character now, practise it weekly, and agree in advance what you would say when a customer, a politician or a stranger makes your business the story.
Build Stage
Does your business know its own voice?
Get a free Growth Report and find out whether your brand would hold its shape in a storm, or dissolve into a corporate statement.
Frequently asked questions
What was the Yorkshire Tea ‘Sue, you’re shouting at tea’ moment?
In February 2020, Chancellor Rishi Sunak tweeted a photo with a giant bag of Yorkshire Tea, triggering boycott threats at a brand that had no involvement. Yorkshire Tea replied with a patient thread asking people to ‘try to be kind’ and told one persistent user ‘Sue, you’re shouting at tea’ before muting her. The phrase trended nationwide.
What happened in the June 2020 ‘please don’t buy our tea’ exchange?
A far-right vlogger praised Yorkshire Tea for not publicly backing Black Lives Matter. The brand replied ‘Please don’t buy our tea again’, adding that it stands against racism. The reply drew over 65,500 likes and 15,800 retweets, PG Tips joined in, and #solidaritea trended across the UK.
What can a small business learn from Yorkshire Tea?
Build your voice in calm times so it holds up under pressure, use humour for absurd fusses and short plain statements for matters of principle, keep replies brief and human, and know when to stop engaging. You choose your character before the storm, not during it.
