Thread: Pizza for Pesos Chain Receives Threats, Hate Mail

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,243127,00.html

DALLAS — A pizza chain has been hit with death threats and hate mail after offering to accept Mexican pesos, becoming another flashpoint in the nation's debate over immigrants.

"This is the United States of America, not the United States of Mexico," one e-mail read. "Quit catering to the damn illegal Mexicans," demanded another.

Dallas-based Pizza Patron said it was not trying to inject itself into a larger political debate about illegal immigration when it posted signs this week saying "Aceptamos pesos" — or "We accept pesos" — at its 59 stores across Texas, Colorado, Arizona, Nevada and California.

Pizza Patron spokesman Andy Gamm said the company was just trying to sell more pizza to its customers, 60 percent of whom are Hispanic.

Wal-Mart (WMT), H-E-B supermarkets and other American businesses in towns along the Mexican border accept pesos. And some busineses in New York and Minnesota communities along the northern border accept Canadian dollars
The difference here is that many of the pizza joints are far from the border, in places like Dallas, more than 400 miles away, and Denver, more than 700 miles.

"If people would understand that the majority of our customers are Hispanic, then it might make more sense for a company to sell pizza for pesos," Gamm said. "It doesn't make sense in Connecticut. And it doesn't make sense in North Dakota or in Maine. But it makes perfect sense here in Dallas, in Phoenix, in Denver — areas far from the border that have significant Hispanic populations."

The company said it has received hundreds of e-mails, some supportive, most critical.

While praising the pesos plan as an innovative way to appeal to Hispanics, a partner in the nation's largest Hispanic public relations firm said a backlash was inevitable.

"Right now there's a lot of anti-immigrant rhetoric going around that could make them a lightning rod," said Patricia Perez, a partner at Valencia, Perez & Echeveste in Los Angeles.

Pizza Patron proclaims on its Web site that "to serve the Hispanic community is our passion." Its restaurants are in mostly Hispanic neighborhoods, and each manager must be bilingual and live nearby, said Pizza Patron founder Antonio Swad, who is part-Italian, part-Lebanese.

The take-home menus are in both English and Spanish, and the dishes include the La Mexicana pizza, with spicy chorizo sausage; La Barbacoa pizza, topped with spicy pulled pork; and chicken wings flavored with lime, peppers and garlic con queso.

Many Pizza Patron customers have pesos "sitting in their sock drawers or in their wallets," Gamm said. "We're talking small amounts, where it would be inconvenient to stop and exchange on the way back — maybe 10 or 20 dollars' worth of pesos."

The promotion will run through the end of February and then be re-evaluated, Swad said.

In the first week, payments in pesos have accounted for about 10 percent of business at the five restaurants operated by the corporation, Pizza Patron said. The others are franchised, and the company will not get reports until the end of the week.

The company has set a conversion rate of 12 pesos per dollar, which is slightly higher than the official rate of about 11 pesos per dollar. Any change is given in U.S. currency.

At a Pizza Patron in Dallas, Veronica Verges bought a pizza Wednesday for her son Nathan's fourth birthday. She paid with pesos her father brought home two weeks ago after a trip to see family in Mexico.

She said she is an occasional Pizza Patron customer, but came that day because she could pay with pesos. Her father wasn't going to use them because he had no plans to go back to Mexico anytime soon.

"I would mostly think a restaurant would do this in a border town," she said. "But it got me over here."

"Dallas-based Pizza Patron said it was not trying to inject itself into a larger political debate about illegal immigration when it posted signs this week saying "Aceptamos pesos" — or "We accept pesos" — at its 59 stores across Texas, Colorado, Arizona, Nevada and California."

Clearly these folks are not the brightest stars in the galaxy...not the sharpest knives in the drawer...you get the picture.

I have a hard time getting mad about this. He is a business owner, and if wants to accept buttons for his pizza he is allowed. It is his buisness, let him do what he wants.

The only problem I have with this pizza chain is the requirement of it's employees to be bilingual. I am totally against that requirement.

Couple of issues I have with this company, the first is their slogan of "Serving the Hispanic Community", which is truthfully wrong. If one of us were to own a business and say "Serving the Anglo Community", we'd be brought down so fast. We need to stop having this double standard in this country.

I could not care if they accept pesos, many places in Oregon and Washington accept Canadian currency as we are fairly close to BC.

They say they have received death threats? Let's see them. I believe there are a handful of morons out there that think this is a reasonable way to express your disgust at the obvious catering this business is doing to one race, but this can truthfully only account for a minute percentage, yet they are using it in the news as though it was widespread. I want to know out of ALL the emails they have received, the actual percentage of those that were true death threats.

If they have received death threats, then they should be pursuing the creeps who did email those, it is wrong to be threatening someone.

The company and the OBL's are all over this as it is something they can use to their advantage, that is, they think it will work for them.

This company needs to understand that when they chose their slogan, they should have expected a backlash eventually. Does this mean people should use threats or vulgur language towards them? No. This does mean the average American, tired of the double standards we have, is going to have something to say about it, and that is only right.

I have no problem with his policy, either. I used dollars in some gift shops in Argentina. However, you have to know you are going to attract negative attention to this. Of course, he is getting attention. I had never heard of them until this story. I do believe they are racists, to a certain extent.

I don't think they should be allowed to do business in the United States. These are people that are trying to bring about the changes little by little and before you know you will be required to speak spanish if you eat at their shop. I would never eat pizza from them. Shame on them for setting up shop here and then acting like they were in Mexico. I travel and when I travel I have my money exchanged and so should everyone that comes here. This is a lack of respect either way.

I agree that he can accept whatever form of payment he wants, pesos, loonies, buttons, jumpinjacks... However, the bilingual employee requirement is no bueno. Wait... I mean NOT GOOD!

I have a hard time getting mad about this. He is a business owner, and if wants to accept buttons for his pizza he is allowed. It is his business, let him do what he wants.

This is not simply a matter of a business choosing their barter. This is further indication of how far the invasion has encroached on our culture and American way of life. Different language, different currency, different mores, etc. The longer this type of thing goes on the further divided this country will become. This is not a good thing.

Originally Posted by AlturaCt

I have a hard time getting mad about this. He is a business owner, and if wants to accept buttons for his pizza he is allowed. It is his business, let him do what he wants.

This is not simply a matter of a business choosing their barter. This is further indication of how far the invasion has encroached on our culture and American way of life. Different language, different currency, different mores, etc. The longer this type of thing goes on the further divided this country will become. This is not a good thing.

That is exactly my problem with it as well. If it's a business on the border or an area with lots of legal international tourists that's one thing but this is entirely different.