Spanish McDonald's ad prompts talk of a boycott

[DelawareValleyDem]

The mayor of a small Bergen County (NJ) 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.


http://www.nj.com/news/ledger/jersey/index.ssf?/base/news-3/1152334632215530.xml&coll=1

[asthmaticeog]

1. Well, I'm no fan of McD's...

but it's not their job to enforce linguistic conformity.

[China_cat]

2. Maybe he should take a trip to San Francisco

and look at the signs in Chinese. Including the street signs.

You never hear about anyone making a fuss over that, though, do you?

[DelawareValleyDem]

7. Yeah and it's funny how Republicans like Lonegan

will abandon when it suits their agenda the principle that government shouldn't interfere with private business.

[MrSlayer]

3. Idiotic.

I never eat McDonald's crap but who cares if they have a sign in Spanish? Offensive? What's offensive is this asshole's idea that America is not multi-cultural.

[Gatchaman]

4. How do you say "fuck you" in spanish?

[mconvente]

12. cohes tu, lonegan - chingata!!

heheh

[madaboutharry]

5. In New Mexico, 1/2 of the page of a birth certificate

is in Spanish. Mayor Lonegan has too much time on his hands.

[baldguy]

6. I guess the mayor thinks Spanish-speaking people don't like iced coffee.

Either that, or they have no money.

[progressivebydesign]

8. "Bogota", isn't that a spanish name for the town? n/t

[heliarc]

10. Bogota, Colombia.

And Fuck you in spanish depends on which country you're in... in Mexico you're more likely to hear someone send someone "a la chingada"

[KurtNYC]

41. I call for a boycott of Bogota until they change their name!

:sarcasm:

[Kutjara]

9. I don't remember any fuss about the...

...Vorsprung durch Technik ads that Audi has run for decades. I guess German is an OK language but Spanish isn't.

[StClone]

32. On that note I grew up in an all German Catholic town in the Midwest

Where the official language (enforced by the Priest) was German until WWII broke out.

[TripeOmatic]

45. I think it's more a commentary on the dearth of ballots

which have been required to also be printed in German, Greek, or Polish, etc.. Besides, what language is easier to spoof in grand style in the service of advertising than "Chairman"? Advertising isn't the same thing as asking for bilingual government forms. I wonder just exactly how much luck I'd have were I to demand official forms printed in English from any Spanish, French, German, Polish, Greek, or Tagalog speaking country. Good Luck!!! Advertising ought to be allowed in any tongue whatsoever. It's not a government function.

[mconvente]

11. that guy is an UBER conservative

crazy fucker right up there with bush and cheney

he ran for governor spot for repuke position - the guy is insane. very racist

[Ian David]

13. Nominated for Top 10 Conservative Idiots AND Worst Person in The World?n/t

[Cha]

14. Has this guy ever

heard of "bi-lingual" and maybe it's waxes nostalgic to see something written in Espanol? Some people are so quick to jump to the wrong conclusions to try and score some bogus points.

And so what? I'm so freakin' sick of that whole English thing.

[nealmhughes]

15. WTF?

Porque le importa a el? Un mac grande (or is it gran mac?) one big mac, Numero dos con Coca, Number two with a coke...

[NYC]

16. I used to learn some Spanish words while

riding the subway. When they put out rat poison, they would put up signs in English and Spanish.

Peligroso.

I forget what else it said.

[MisterP]

22. mine comes from signs around Santa Ana

"Señora, es un cuerpo asesino en mi camara"

[NYC]

24. What's a cuerpo?

Please translate. (That reminds me of a Swedish word for the sound a little bird makes.)

[MisterP]

25. "Madam, there is a murdered body in my room"

[NYC]

26. Thanks. I love it.

All I can remember from the rat poision is peligroso or dangerous.

Maybe that's how the body in the room got dead. :) I can't remember what they said the consequences would be.

[MisterP]

28. the cognate is "perilous"

cognates are also really fun with English and German equivalents in "Beowulf"
Getting back on track, language is as flexible as humanity itself, and really our defining characteristic: piddling over Spanish like the Minutemen or this dolt is, is so bibulous it's beyond description or discussion, really

[NYC]

30. Ne pas deranger.

I like to translate that: Do not derange.

(Instead of do not disturb.)

[Kutjara]

31. You also get "Non molestar" on hotel door signs...

...which I inevitably translate as "Don't molest". Unfortunately, the reverse doesn't say "Molest me now!"

[NYC]

49. :)

The "molest me now" sign would be the talk of the town.

[TripeOmatic]

47. Wow - I was sure it said "Madam, there's a murdered body in my

inner-tube." :sarcasm: Ah well, that's what I get for reading the dictionary idioms - LOL.

[readmoreoften]

17. In the most RW spots in Texas we have Spanish billboards.

No one even thinks about it.

[TripeOmatic]

18. You should be required to speak Spanish to promote 'bilingualism'

Anyone who promotes 'bilingualism' should be required to speak Spanish (or another language) fluently before being given any credence. (yes, I do speak, read, and write French and German fluently and Spanish enough to get about in small-town Mexico with no problems) Unfortunately, in this country 'bilingualism' is too accurate a denotation (consider 'multi-lingualism' as a more desirable goal) since, in most cases, it means not that one speaks more than one language, but rather that one speaks both Spanish and English (bi-). I'm not sure I'd have done better were I to have had 'bilingual' instruction when I came to the US. I expect I'd have been able to avoid acquiring an accent-free version of English. There's something to be said for the old saw "When in Rome, do as the Romans do."

[Bridget Burke]

33. Why do you have "bilingualism" in quotation marks?

And why are you making the rules for the rest of us? Only people who are fluent in Spanish are allowed to advertise their business in Spanish?

You may not be able to speak English without an accent. However, you can always learn to write the language less incoherently.

[TripeOmatic]

44. Because it's such an iconic issue to some folks

Bridget, There's a difference between opinion and rules. I don't recall addressing the freedom to advertise in any tongue one chooses to advertise in. Perhaps you're just unaccustomed to apprehending the meaning of a double negative spanning two sentences. There's also something to be said for careful reading.

[Bridget Burke]

51. What's the point of "a double negative spanning two sentences"?

MenudoOmatic, I applaud your command of several languages. There's always room to improve.

[TripeOmatic]

53. Does a form require a point?

Indeed, it's a tautology that there's always room for improvement. Nice play on words though!

[Bridget Burke]

56. Automatic Tripe! n/t

[drm604]

19. This guys right on target.

This is definitely the most pressing issue in NJ! :sarcasm:

[Skittles]

20. that guy is a f****ing assclown

what a moron

[Miss Chybil]

21. Bullshit.

Where does it say, "Free Speech, Only in English?"

[KAZ]

23. Lonegan? This Lonegan? Tell him what ya think...

[phone]
Toll Free [phone]
[e-mail]

http://www.americansforprosperity.org/index.php?state=nj

[SensibleAmerican]

27. Well then where are the wingnuts going to eat?

:shrug:

[struggle4progress]

29. If Lonegan can't speak Lenape or Munsee, he should STFU

[jmm]

34. Except for the racism this sounds like a wonderful town

Surely the streets must be clean, the schools leading the nation, and the crime negligible because I'm certain this mayor wouldn't be trying to latch onto the latest wedge issue to get himself some press and distract people from the real problems they face.

[alcibiades_mystery]

35. For all the DU xenophobes: Yeah, this has nothing to do with racism

:eyes:

English only is a racist discourse. There's no way around that. Iced fucking coffee, now. Hilarious.

[plasticsundance]

36. Let 'em spend a year in South Florida

And let's see how far this asshole get with his frivolous complaining.

[RebelOne]

37. I spent most of my life in South Florida.

And I am now living in North Georgia. Spanish everywhere is one of the reasons I moved out. I was sick of going into a store and the clerks would speak to me in Spanish. I would become quite annoyed and would tell them that I did not speak Spanish and would they please speak English.

[Bridget Burke]

40. Georgia's loss.

Florida's gain.

[afrosia]

38. Ahem

Anyone been abroad lately? Noticed how many places have to write their signs in English for the ignorant pigs who refuse to learn the local language? Hypocrisy really "grinds my gears".

[noonwitch]

39. I find the average liquor ads to be offensive, not McD's ads in spanish

Some of the billboards around Detroit for liquor are so offensive to women.

[Marie26]

42. This from the mayor of Bogota, NJ?

:rofl: What an idiot. Perhaps he should also change his town's name - It might send the "wrong message" to God-fearing Americans.

[KamaAina]

46. How about "Freedomville, N.J."?

Let's all go to Freedomville for a Freedom Coffee, uh, not.

[Marie26]

50. Perfect!

Someone should suggest that at the next town meeting. I saw this mayor was just on the Glenn Beck show yesterday. :eyes: He is catching fire! Maybe he'll become the next Lou Dobbs, speaking out on behalf of aggrieved middle-aged white men everywhere.

[MissMillie]

43. So much for free speech

Isn't McDonald's entitled to advertise it's products any way that they want to, as long as it's not false advertising?

America... home of the free!!!!

[KamaAina]

48. It is impossible to boycott Mickey D's in Bogota, N.J.

for the simple reason that Mayor Lonegan's domain is too small (in more ways than one :P ) to support a McD's; the nearest one appears to be across the river in Hackensack. :rofl:

[Sapere aude]

52. A business has to communicate to it's customers no matter what the bigots

want.

This is the thing that will keep Spanish out there in the open. It is just good business to communicate in the language of your customers. Bigots and racists just don't pay the bills but customers do.

There was a story in our local paper a while back about some guy selling hamburgers and he would not sell to anyone who did not order in English.

I felt that if someone opened up a hamburger stand next to him and sold to anyone no matter what language they spoke, the first guy would go out of business yet hold on to his prejudice like the fool he is.

[Jets2Brazil]

54. As a conservative republican and laissez-faire capitalist...

I find it APPALLING that the government should try to influence or restrict a corporate entity from exercising its freedom of speech and...oh wait. The sign is in Spanish? Well, fuck that. We can't have that, can we?

[rayofreason]

55. Univison...

...was the best place on TV to see the World Cup. I guess that is insulting to non-Spanish speaking Americans! Divisive! Offensive!