Posted on 07/08/2006 3:02:49 AM PDT by Liz
The mayor of a small Bergen County, New Jersey town is calling for a McDonald's boycott if the fast-food chain does not take down a Spanish-language billboard.... Bogota Mayor Steve Lonegan said the advertisement is "offensive" and "divisive"......"The true things that bind us together as neighbors and community is our belief in the American flag and our common language," Lonegan said. "And when McDonald's sends a different message, that we're going to be different now, that causes resentment."
Representatives for McDonald's and CBS Outdoor in New York, the company that owns the billboard on River Road in Bogota, defended the advertisement....said Jodi Senese, executive vice president for marketing for CBS Outdoor.
Jennifer Nagy, a marketing manager of McDonald's NY Metro Region, stood by the advertisement.
Lonegan was dismissive of the statement yesterday. "I think that their boilerplate press release is totally meaningless," Lonegan said. "It shows their utter disregard for this community."
Martin Perez, president of the Latino Leadership Alliance of New Jersey, an umbrella group of 250 Hispanic organizations, said there is an "anti-Latino" sentiment behind the opposition to the advertisement.
Deborah Jacobs, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey, said McDonald's has a first amendment right to advertise in Spanish.
(Excerpt) Read more at nj.com ...
Oh the humanity!!!! The horror!!!
Crackpot.
"I can't stand communist. Your communist attitudes are so restrictive and anti-American. Communism is dead okay? It died 16 years ago. Capitalism is the only thing left; hell, Trotsky died like 60-70 years ago... aren't you getting it? The workers rebellion failed.. 1917 is over.... Czar Nickolas is avenged. Their are no more communist nations other than North Korea. Even China knows this.
Another thing, John. You shouldn't come on this board and insult people with profanity. Use your communist capacity to realize that communist do not divide with insult but brings every one together under an ideal Utopia of equal distribution and centralized rule.
Better dead than red... commie."
I see from your profile that you're Hispanic. And I see from your tortured post that you haven't been assimilated yet. Learn English, okay? It's one of only a handful of things the United States asks of its would-be citizens, in return for which they get to live in the greatest civilization ever created.
As for your calling my joke "Press 1 for the Spanish word for asswipe"..."profanity"--if you have a problem, report it to the mod. Or, you could just grow up and put the remark in context. Just for the record: that was a standalone paragraph, and did not directly call you that horrible and shocking "profanity."
I have reported you to the Grammar Mod for sundered syntax, as well as the Mental Health Mod for incoherence.
Even though you've been registered for quite a while your first paragraph reads like the work of some nutcase who just signed up this afternoon, and soon finds himself under the Zot.
Porterville, I see on your "About" page that you are Hispanic. You speak fluent English, so why not encourage other Hispanics who come to America legally to do the same? Don't you agree that they can gain an advantage by doing so?
No one wants to do away with the culture, we just don't want to creats multiple cultures and promote the segregation that will result.
Oh, those wicked Greeks... how dare they tell everyone they come from.... (shock)... Greece!!!
More insults John... are you angry or just mad? Do Italians make you angry too? You know their flag has the same color as Mexico's.
Yeah....except they pronounce it differently in Columbia.
You know John, I think I will report you to the mod; because I like you so much.
Nails it.
I don't like communist of any stripe, well intentioned or the ignorant.
LOL......remind me never to go there.
At the end of the article:
In a statement released yesterday, Jennifer Nagy, a marketing manager of McDonald's NY Metro Region, stood by the advertisement.
"Our customers are at the heart of every decision we make, and we would never do anything to intentionally offend anyone," Nagy said.
Yep - these days, when it comes to political differences, I tend to find the authoritarian/libertarian divide more troubling than the liberal/conservative gap (regardless of whether or not I agree in principle with what the authoritarians are trying to impose).
On any issue, I prefer to err on the side of individual freedom and government keeping its nose out...
Apples and oranges. Greeks are not Third World illegals living off US taxpayers---and are not trying to get our laws changed to subsidize and accomodate their every whim.
You write too well... these folks only understand crude backwoods talk like I grew up with in Porterville. That is why they get so mad at me.
I once drove my motorhome there to visit my aunt and uncle. Arriving late at night, rather than wake the elderly couple I parked the motorhome on the street and slept there. During the night I thought I was suffocating. It was so hot and no air was circulating, not even a slight breeze outside. Even with all the windows open, I could hardly breathe. I swore that if I ever went back to that town, it would be early enough to get a bed with really good air conditioning!
And in West Texas they pronounce 'Lamesa' as 'La meesa', and in Austin it's 'Guadaloop', not 'Guadalupay'. So.. we mispronounce a lot of words from other cultures...
To which I say...so what.
I'll put money on the fact that the majority of them will speak English too.
Yes, and people who find their advertising offensive have the right to boycott them.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.