May 4, 2012
By Juan Tornoe
- Most of their customers have actually been ordering in Spanish all along.
- At the very least English-speakers learned to say “por favor” during those 4 years of High School Spanish Classes. Now it’s time to get their money’s worth for all their hard work, all $5.00 worth of it.
- Most English-speakers who have visited Latin America have had to learn the basic survival Spanish phrase: “Una Cerveza Por Favor.”
- If someone is able to say “Yo quiero Taco Bell” or “Hasta la vista, Baby,” then they will be able to pull this one off as well.
- Because people are NOT speaking in English either when they order BibimBap, Pho Tai, Baba Ganoush, Tacos, Enchiladas, Salsa or Tortillas.
- The campaign is geared towards Spanish-dominant Latinos, Latino-philes and cheapskates; so most of those “boycotting” Pizza Patrón were not even targeted to begin with.
- You don’t want to order in Spanish? No problem; just pay the $5 for your Pepperoni Pizza, no one is stopping you.
In case you've been living under a rock lately, here's some background on this:
Pizza Patrón has launched campaign that has sparked controversy because it encourages the public to place their orders in Spanish. The "Ordena en español y llévate gratis una pizza grande de pepperoni" (Order in Spanish and get a large pepperoni pizza free) campaign, will run from 5:00-8:00 p.m. on June 5. Pizza Patrón plans to give away 80,000 pies during the three-hour window of the promotion. Free pizzas are limited to one per customer while supplies last. Despite the fact that the campaign ads explicitly state how to order a pizza in Spanish using the phrase "Pizza, por favor" (Pizza, please), for some of those who are not Spanish-speakers, the promotion appears to be politically incorrect. Around 70 percent of Pizza Patron's customers are Hispanic and the majority of the chain's 104 stores are located in areas with heavy concentrations of Latinos. From the beginning, the brand has been recognized for its 'fresh-dough' pizza, its low prices and its trademark "friendly, bicultural service."
Pizza Patrón’s brand manager, explains,“If you don’t speak Spanish, come on in. We’ll give you the phrase and make sure everyone that shows up walks away with a pizza.” Anyone can say, 'por favor.' Some individuals are boycotting the eatery over the promotion. Some people say that now that they have to speak Spanish they don't want anything from Pizza Patrón, even thought neither of the words in the company name were of English origin.
