Posted on 12/02/2016 10:31:28 AM PST by nikos1121
Dear CEO,
Please give us a moment to share something we hope you will find very valuable.
Our customers come from all walks of life. The kindness of cooks knows no borders or divides. In the aftermath of the election, seeing the intentional damage inflicted on so many outside the white heterosexual male world, we raised our voice. We felt we had to. We did this because we are Penzeys. The Spice business is so intertwined with history that it's not really possible to have one without the other. It became clear to us that we are now in a moment history will long have its eyes upon. For the sake of our customers, and for the sake of future generations, we felt the time had come to stand on the right side of history.
And while the reasons for why we took a stand might be specific to our unique outlook, what we learned actually applies to all commerce in the United States. What we learned is that President-elect Donald Trump has no real support. Voters, sure, but no constituency. Running a campaign on "that horrible-terrible-woman who should be locked up," while at the same time working to raise fear of minorities among white voters with limited access to education, clearly achieved its goal. But none of it left Americans with any sense of connection to the candidate they actually voted for.
Willing to take a hit for what is right, we did what we did. In the two weeks since, online sales are up 59.9%, gift box sales up 135%. And we didn't have a catalog arrive in this window this year, while last year we had 1.1 million! Yes, maybe for the moment we have lost 3% of our customers because of the so-called "right wing firestorm." And, yes, they send emails of rage, and ALL CAPS, and bad language with the hope of creating the perception that they are bigger than they really are. But what we learned is that, in terms of retail spending, Donald Trump simply has no one supporting his views for America. He has no constituency.
America's Values, on the other hand, have a really sizable constituency, and that constituency moves quickly to support those that stand up for the values of America. If, as a company, you have values, now is the time to share them. You may well lose a chunk of your AM radio-listening customers, but if you really are honest and sincere, don't be surprised to see your promotions suddenly, finally, find active engagement with the Millennial generation.
And the time for this really is now. We understand all too well that, with the holidays, December is a tough month to get things done. We understand that a change in direction will not be easy, but you are where you are because you don't need things to be easy. If you wait until after the wheels come off the track for the incoming administration, this moment will have passed. And while there's no bad time to do the right thing, to do the right thing at the same time as others in your industry will work so much better than waiting until someone else has shown the way.
In this moment there is finally the real chance to unite our nation in our shared rejection of sexism, homophobia, and racism. This is your chance to stand up for America's values and make January a tent pole in your company's history. Opportunities to do the right thing at the time when doing the right thing makes all the difference come once in a lifetime. Make your history proud.
Thanks for reading,
Penzeys Spices
I just looked through the comments on their Facebook page- didn’t see a single negative one, all were praising the company’s “heroic” stand- what?!?! They must be working overtime scrubbing the truth telling comments.
He owns the company
When you find yourself in a hole, the first thing to do is stop digging.
America: this arrogant puke just told you that he doesn’t need you, doesn’t want your business, and thinks he speaks for the heart of this nation.
I would recommend we show him how wrong he is on all those counts.
Unhinged. Keep [him away from the rooftop.]
*Special kind of stupid*
did you see all the suck up comments on their page? Stupidity knows no bounds.
Dear Penzys:
Got your email regarding your stance against our new president.
Pease remove my name, email and mailing address from your list.
I will go back to buying from The Spice House.
Sincerely,
Nick etc
This does sounds so overly grandiose.
He thinks he’s on an evangelical mission for the sake of America’s corporate soul. He’s actually pouted himself into a corner.
I remember another case where a certain CEO (of a company that kicked me out after I got sufficiently crosswise with a jerk of a boss) mocked the CEO of another company in the same business for something he said with respect to a proposed merger with yet another company in the same business. Maybe I was right to get out of there. What a busy body.
I actually think, for a company like this, it’s a very smart move. Penzy’s spices are very big in the holistic and vegan world. It’s their market. I do think it’s a carefully thought out marketing tool, not so much a big statement. If this is the America they want, more divided, more hate filled.. Bring it on. No Penzy’s for me. Two years ago I bought a bunch of Christmas gift boxes for people. Their logo is a big peace sign, I don’t expect anything different. It will be interesting to watch.
Whenever you see some fool claiming they want to "stand on the right side of history" it is important to look around them carefully. Usually you can find that flag with the hammer and sickle hanging on a wall in their office or home.
Good luck to Penzys, they seem like a bunch of leftist propagandists running a company. The are probably more interested in their politics than the quality of their product.
“They say ‘peace, peace’ but there is no peace.”
I know a FReeper who sells spices (or at least used to). He’s one of the good guys, if you’re looking for another source of spices.
Yes. Out of the blue, he sends me an email, during the Xmas season no doubt. He won’t feel the decrease in sales until next year I’ll bet.
We stopped buying from Penzeys as soon as this story broke and my husband wrote a letter to their CEO advising him of the reason. We now buy from another company:
https://www.myspicesage.com/name-az-a-c-1-10.html
That can happen. Their pompous politics becomes the all-excusing virtue and they let other things slip.
I think the Trump era is really outing the rats. Sputtering with indignation, they show us their bags of gas.
I read the whole thing...........still no idea what this fella is saying.
I like Penzy spices. Should I take my business elsewhere?
some american values:
Follow the law, wait your turn, honor the election results, be nice to ALL you customers.
They doubled down on it.
They will virtue signal themselves right out of business.
This guy’s gambling that there are enough people who approve of what he’s saying to support and grow the company. People who disapprove have been explicitly told to shop elsewhere, so do so. They’re not the only spice company, plenty of alternatives. Start an explicitly conservative one and market to conservatives.
Too bad (in a way) that FR is noncommercial. There might be a page dedicated to ads for which FR will (by gentleman’s agreement) get donations in connection with, which might even be able to keep click counts, or the target pages would keep click counts. This could be abused of course, but anything worthy of use can be abused.
Just a proposal, being aware it might have been suggested before.
*intentional damage*?
What intentional damage? Wish he was more specific.
He needs a padded room with a kitten to pet. Cookies. He needs a cookie.
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