Spanish McDonald's ad prompts talk of a boycott; Bergen town's mayor calls billboard 'divisive'

STAR LEDGER ^ | Saturday, July 08, 2006 | ANA M. ALAYA Star-Ledger Staff

[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.

[kitkat]

I'll repeat what I said earlier:

The Melting Pot made America "one nation." Diversity seeks to divide it, one against the other.

[Balding_Eagle]

Thanks for the contact info.

I called, got a very polite person one the other end, left my complaint, along with my name etc.

I suggest others take a couple of minutes to do the same.

McDonalds is American as apple pie and motherhood and shouldn't be involved in Balkanizing the coutry.

[Liz]

The backlash to PCism will increase and we shall all be freer for it.

The good news is that the PC atrocity is dying on the vine of resurgent populism.

Elitist liberals and their enforcers ---- The Thought Police----have lost the battle to control how we think and what we can say.

[Balding_Eagle]

we have no right demanding they change their ad campaigns.

YOU have NO right to demand that WE change our campaign against them!

So there!

[Caipirabob]

When my great grandfather came here, he worked for my grandfather, who's family had a business building levees on the Mississippi. This was their recovery business after the great depression wiped out their financial holdings. My great grandfather took a lot of crap from people for speaking only German. Once day after work he sat down to dinner. He announced "We are Americans now. We will speak only English". The German language died in my family that day. Even so, those folks weren't big talkers, so no loss. ; )

[Liz]

McDonalds is American as apple pie and motherhood and shouldn't be involved in Balkanizing the coutry.

Thanks for the realtime report. Nice work on your part.

[Liz]

This is a further example of the polarization of the citizens of the United States.

We are threatened by an invading foreign force with no allegiance to our Nation that has threatened to takeover with the vote and with violence, if necessary.

FReeper pax_et_bonum was horrified, "that even the most responsible, rational, friendly students in my high school ESL class thought that their Mexican people were entitled to our land. Most of them, however, weren't friendly but were resentful and/or obviously hate-filled toward me for no good reason. This is, no doubt, a violent foreign invasion."

Marcus Tullius Cicero Roman--Statesman---Speech in the Roman Senate-42 BC "A nation can survive its fools, and even the ambitious. But it cannot survive treason from within. An enemy at the gates is less formidable, for he is known and carries his banner openly. But the traitor moves amongst those within the gate freely, his sly whispers rustling through all the alleys, heard in the very halls of government itself. For the traitor appears not a traitor; he speaks in accents familiar to his victims, and he wears their face and their arguments, he appeals to the baseness that lies deep in the hearts of all men. He rots the soul of a nation, he works secretly and unknown in the night to undermine the pillars of the city, he infects the body politic so that it can no longer resist. "

[John Robertson]

"Why can't a private company advertise in whatever language it likes?"

"You are sounding like the crowd that goes around telling Wal-Mart what benefits their employees should receive.
McDonalds is a privately owned company. If they are not in violation of the law, we have no right demanding they change their ad campaigns."

Companies can of course advertise in whatever language they like. And I am free to reject them in whatever language I like--which in my case would be English.

As for McDonald's being a "privately owned company"...no, it is a publicly owned company. Do you now withdraw your argument?

Your erroneous premise aside: The discussion is not about the "violation of the law," it's about a violation of our culture.

Darkwolf is one of the best-known illegal immigration apologist-stooges on FR, so there is no hope there. But Read2Know, you are usually much more reasonable.

Liz: You go, chica (I mean girl!)

[Liz]

No McSalads for McMe!!

LOL.

Let McD's know what it can do with its jalapeno peppers.

[Liz]

The discussion is not about the "violation of the law," it's about a violation of our culture.

Beautiful----sums it up most succinctly.

[stephenjohnbanker]

""The discussion is not about the "violation of the law," it's about a violation of our culture.""


Man with brain!!

B U M P

[TommyDale]

PHONE toll-free 1-800-244-6227

Enter '1' for Spanish...'2' for English...

[John Robertson]

(Said like Chris Farley said it, big and blubbery:)

I LOVE YOU GUYS!!!

[ASA Vet]

You are all correct, however, in this case a local government official involved himself in this strictly private enterprise venture.
McDucks has the right to make stupid choices and suffer the results without the Mayors comments.

[Extremely Extreme Extremist]

FReepers are knee-jerking, as usual.

I have no problem with private businesses using Spanish to attract a growing economic bloc.

[Extremely Extreme Extremist]

And if the American citizens are fed up with pandering to the non English speaking "residents" of this country, then they also have the right to go to spend their dollars at another establishment.

They certainly do have that right. But can't they just do it without making an ass out of themselves?

[Liz]

Yeah........figures.

[stephenjohnbanker]

This, of course, is a GOOD thing, as our intelligence is vastly outnumbered by the numb : )

[stephenjohnbanker]

Do you have a problem with Americans being required to speak spanish to keep or obtain a job?

[Liz]

As I posted earlier, launching the ad campaign now, as the political debate rages over the misdirection of our culture, sends a divisive, irritating message.

At another time and place foreign language ads would not seem so controversial.