Beaners Under Fire in Franchising!
September 17, 2007 by Sean Kelly
Filed under Business
(FranchisePick.Com) Anti-Decaffeination League, Sambo’s Remain Silent.
Those poor Beaners.
They came to this country in search of opportunity and to pursue the American Dream of business ownership just like real citizens. Now they are being forced to try to look and sound more “American.” They are changing their name to sound “Anglo” and blend in with everyone else.
Sorry for not being in tune with these PC times, but I think that’s it’s a sad day indeed when fine, hardworking people are forced to hide their once-proud heritage as Beaners. Juan Valdez would fall off his burro if he knew.
According to United Press International:
Beaner’s Coffee to get less offensive name
LANSING, Mich., 16 (UPI) — The Beaner’s coffee shop chain, based in Michigan, is changing its name to avoid it being mistaken for an ethnic slur.
The chain — which has 77 franchises in nine states and is growing — will adopt the name Biggby Coffee by Jan. 31, 2008, The Lansing (Mich.) State Journal reported Sunday.
The old name was not an intentional insult to Hispanics, co-founder and Chief Executive Officer Bob Fish told the newspaper. But the company has realized that — even if adopted in ignorance — names can hurt.
There are also good business reasons to change the name, Fish said. Some potential customers may have been turned off by the name, and that issue will only become bigger as the chain expands into markets with larger Hispanic populations.
The new name, a reference to the old name’s first letter, beat out about 100 other names that start with the letter ‘B.’
Chief Executive Officer Bob Fish? I don’t mean to sound anti-semantic, but shouldn’t they have gotten him a new name too?
Who’s putting the pressure on Beaners? My guess is it’s those sneaky Lithuanians. You know how THEY are.
Not since we lost the SAMBO’S coffee shop chain has there been such an attack on our freedom to express ourselves through racial and cultural sterotypes!
Mark my words, now that they’ve ethnically cleansed Beaners, not even soup-selling Nazis will be safe!
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Photo licensed under Creative Commons. Photo Credit: No Traces (http://flickr.com/photos/notraces/)
There’s even a wikipedia entry: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beaner’s_Gourmet_Coffee
Remember, everyone, if all else fails, there’s always the Green Prosperity Prayer Hankie
I think it is a shame that people actually go against your coffee business just because the title could be misinterpreted. I see how the name applies to the business and thats all that should count. I feel your pain.
Most Hispanics I know would find the name humorous and probably joke about it, but then again I only hang out with intelligent people. Oh well, I guess the company wants retards to drink its coffee too.
Scott:
los retardos are a pretty important demographic when you’re selling $4 cups of coffee.
On the flip side, I won’t remember the new name unless I scroll up and read my own post.
I remember the Sambo’s coffee shop chain taking a lot of flak from African American groups claiming the name was racist, as they thought it referred to the politically incorrect children’s story Little Black Sambo and the racial epithet derived thereof.
The founder of Sambo’s, Sam Battistone, actually derived it from the nickname of his son, Sam Jr. (”Sam B.” or “Sam-Bo”). I believe they changed the name to Jo-Jos before folding. At least the one I remember in Skokie, IL became Jo-Jos.
Sam B grew up to be the owner of the New Orleans Jazz (later renamed the Utah Jazz) basketball team and founder the sports collectible franchise “Field of Dreams.”
How’s that for a little racist-names-in-franchising trivia?