If you live in Texas, now might be the time to start brushing up on your Spanish! No, the Latinos – specifically the mexicanos – have not finally gone and done it: reclaimed Texas as a part of Mexico, as oddly enough so many people still believe is our ultimate goal. In truth, it’s something even better! On Tuesday, June 5, 2012, Dallas-based – why is it that all the juicy Texas drama always starts in Dallas? – Pizza Patrón will be giving away a free pizza pie to anyone who orders in Spanish from the hours of 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. That seems harmless enough, no? Even a little fun I would say.
Well of course, luego luego comenzo la controversía. USA Today quoted the chairman of the Conservative Caucus as saying that “it seems to punish people who can’t speak Spanish, and I resent that.”
Really! It’s just pizza, LOL!
So the pizza chain counters that anyone can order with whatever level of Spanish they can master. Whether it’s perfect Spanish, broken Spanish, or Spanglish, Pizza Patrón says the main purpose of this advertising campaign is to strengthen their bond with their mostly Spanish-speaking clientele – about 70 percent at 104 locations. Lisa Navarrete, spokeswoman for the National Council of La Raza, takes it a step further: “For people to get offended or upset at this seems a little bit silly. It doesn’t preclude anybody. Anyone can say, ‘por favor.’ ” ¡Orale! I love that she said that.
So whether it’s good advertising or not – I’d say it’s probably good considering Pizza Patrón is not as popular here as some of the other larger chains – the point is you can get a free pizza pie on June 5th! And who doesn’t like that?!
