Posted on 07/09/2006 5:37:39 AM PDT by HansGygi
BERGEN TOWN'S MAYOR CALLS BILLBOARD 'DIVISIVE'
The mayor of a small Bergen County town is calling for a McDonald's boycott if the fast-food chain does not take down a Spanish-language billboard advertising iced coffee.
Bogota Mayor Steve Lonegan said the advertisement is "offensive" and "divisive" because it sends a message that Hispanic im migrants do not need to learn English.
(Excerpt) Read more at nj.com ...
Clever, those McDonald people. The ad covers global warming as well as diversity!
Interesting coming from the mayor of a town named for a Latin American capital in a county named for a Nordic city.
A free market in a free country. If Spanish advertizing increases your customer base, then go for it. No se preocupe.
Je demande des pancartes en français!
Isn't this contradictory to the guy in Philadelphia who put up the English Only sign?
Do we or don't we? PC is sooooo confusing.
Ah, but it's diversity personified.
¡Ay, qué lástima!
You are absolutely right. The majority of Americans (thanks to our Political Class this will no doubt change) don't want this and see the danger of American being downgraded to the level European nations have fallen. It's all about immigration and the fact that the ranks become diluted with those who hate our nation before they get here and the fact that the gates are opened to the dimwits.
Finally, someone who has a "pair" and could give a crap about being PC.
Getting to the point when you place a call, the message (which used to say for English press 1) now has a message first in Spanish which (I assume) tells the listener, for Spanish press, whatever.
My parents both came from Montreal and spoke only French.
Although there were lots of French Canadians who emigrated to Vermont (and all over New England) there was NO multilingual signs or education.
When my mother started grammar school, she could not speak a word of English, but went on (with only a HS education) the executive secretary of the President of the largest University in Vermont.
Yes, like many other ethnic groups, we kept our French culture and customs (AT HOME) and in addition, I learned to speak (and still do) French, BUT we all went to English speaking schools and don't remember ANY second generation friends of mine who spoke only French.
Usted puede decir eso otra vez!
¡Ay, qué lástima!
Ah, mon ami, un autre qui parle la bell langue.
Voillez numero 12.
Order your cheese steak in English and your ice coffee in Spanish. French Fries, contrary to popular belief, must be ordered in Gaelic.
Mc Donald's has been running "black ads" for years, KFC too. No one protested those.
Yes I noticed when our Lowe's (Dayton Ohio) hung up its bi-lingual signs and I was offended to say the least.
It has had an effect on my shopping habits since our local Ace is a lot more fun to shop in, and Home Depot is right around the corner.
We have a large Mennonite and "reform" Mennonites (slightly less legalistic) here in middle GA. That rule wouldn't benefit me at all here, to the contrary, I'd miss out on a lot of fresh fruits and veggies. :(
There may be trouble at home (dating back well over a year ago)...
Feb 2005- Home Depot wants Spanish-speaking workers
..."Matching the profile of your associate work force with the profile of your targeted or existing customer is always been a practice that has helped retailers enhance the store experience," said Michael Brown, a retail specialist at consulting firm Kurt Salmon Associates.
Home Depot rival Lowe's Companies Inc., based in Mooresville, N.C., has worked with employment agencies in several states to help diversify its work force of 160,000 people. It also has worked with the military to hire soldiers looking to go into the private sector.
While Lowe's has not implemented any formal national hiring partnerships with the Hispanic community, it has tried to boost the number of Hispanic employees at stores in communities that are predominantly Hispanic. The 1,075-store chain has done that at stores in parts of South Florida, Texas and California.
"There is certainly a business advantage to having a work force that reflects the community," Lowe's spokeswoman Chris Ahearn said.
Our local McD's had a Spanish menu in front of the English one several months ago. It was only there a matter of days before they understood it would be best to take it down.
I'm also angered at Wal-mart for having their freebie recipe cards in the produce section in Spanish. There's not a single English language recipe on the whole stand. One day I got out a red pen and wrote ENGLISH on a couple dozen cards and told the manager what I thought. I'm also not pleased that the vast majority of food products are in Spanish as well. Not dual English and Spanish but Spanish only. That same day, the couple ahead of me at the check out complained the credit card machine was in Spanish. Then I went out to get gas and there were stickers all over the pump in Spanish. I picked them off as the employee in the booth smiled. I have to pay more for gas to have a foreign language plastered all over US pumps? If they're so stupid as to not understand how to fuel their vehicles, they certainly don't need to be driving.
Last year, Jack in the Box had a slew of Spanish tv commercials. I haven't been back since.
Home Depot has signs in Spanish everywhere. Look closer.
Were they in English? Do you see the difference?
Guess that leaves you nothing but Menards.
Lots of Chinese goods in there though.
Hé mec t'a pas 100 balles
Things could be worse.
Look, the ONLY way the Democratic party can survive is with an infusion of large numbers of people who will vote for more taxes.
It ain't hard to figure out.
Agreed. Our language unites. Advertisiong in foreign languages divides.
That's somewhat of a befuddling statement from someone with your handle.
Can you tell me of a time in this nation's, or your State's, history when Spanish was NOT one of the languages spoken?
Ich möchte es auch auf Deutsch. Aber sofort!
Ook in het Nederlands!
So it is. Which also means if their marketing practices offend one, for any reason, one also has the freedom to bitch to them and refuse to purchase their product.
I, for one, am tired of picking up products in stores and finding the english on the packaging to be hard to see because the spanish is larger and covers more of the label. Does that mean there are more spanish speaking customers purchasing dish soap than there are english speaking?
I suspect a lot of this is PC on the part of the companies. They are very afraid of the bad publicity they may get for not being "hispanic friendly". The race card is still very effective for shakedowns (aka Jesse Jackson and his ilk).
La bell? La belle, n'est ce pas?
Oui, oui!
"when they keel over from a heart attack at about aged 15"
At least we will save tax dollars from them not living longer. If people are so stupid to subsist on a mcdonalds diet for themselves and their kids--it serves them right.
This is one reason why the Republican Party in New Jersey is such a dysfunctional mess. Lonegan was once considered a serious contender for statewide office, and for him to go and make such a big issue over this -- among all the other things that really need fixing -- speaks volumes of his poor political instincts.
Are you near El Cenizos?......I understand this is place where once there was a hispanic majority they decided to use spanish as the main language for all public meetings which I'm sure will be the case soon in other SW cities as the the La Razan's gain more control.
Check out a public school lunch menu sometime.
Most of them serve the same stuff nowadays - sugary soft drinks laden with high-fructose corn syrup and pre-packaged, pre-cooked, highly procesed junk food.
I do not even know of a school that actually prepares fresh, homemade lunches anymore.
The stuff our children are consuming in the public schools is often worse than McDonalds.
Not to the degree it is now plus in years past many of those who came from south of the border came to assimilate and not to colonize (or re-colonize).
Moi, aussi! Vive les Etas Unis!
It infuriates me in this country to have to "press 1 for English" - English should be the default. If a business has enough customers that want support in another language, then they can add that, but there should be no need to make a choice for English.
I had the occasion to be in a local MacDonalds the other day for the first time in 4-5 years. It used to be the help was African American, or local kids. This time, everyone working there was Hispanic, speaking Spanish among themselves completely, even talking about orders to the kitchen -- no way to know if they have it right if you're a normal American who doesn't speak Spanish -- and their accents in English when speaking to customers were so thick I had to ask them to repeat themselves several times in order to understand them. And this was in Greenwich, Connecticut, not some border town in Texas or California! Enough with the Spanish already! I don't patronize any business (unless it's a Spanish/Mexican/Latin American restaurant where you expect Spanish just as you expect French in a French restaurant or Chinese in a Chinese restaurant) where the help speaks primarily Spanish or the signs are in Spanish. Vote with your feet.
Freedom is not absolute. No on has the freedom to become a slave, or to sell out America. You comments are the mantra of the brainwashed left.
It's disgusting to walk into a BofA and see signs in nothing but spanish........I told one of my customer reps I'm looking around for a new place to take my business and personal accounts. Also, I told him that he needs to remind his managers that "aiding and abetting" an illegal alien is against federal law......his repsonse was just a blank look on his face.
Actually, the only thing about these Spanish language signs is that I end up feeling like a foreigner in my own country. While no one sheds any tears over it I am, in essence, being disenfranchised by these folks.
I have no beef with immigrants and immigration, per se, the majority of us come from immigrant stock. But, if one relocates to a new country, one should do their best to assimilate into their new environment, NOT force the residents of the country to assimilate THEIR language, customs and traditions.
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