I have recently observed repeated occurrences of the same sequence of events. Some business does something discriminatory, such as refusing to serve gays or minorities or some such thing, triggering anger at them and calls for a boycott. Then the owners complain that they are being hurt financially and punished for their religious or political beliefs or for exercising their free speech rights. Before you know what, a fundraising campaign is initiated on their behalf that generates more money than they would have lost due to a boycott.
I was beginning to wonder whether deliberately doing something outrageous that would trigger a boycott was now being seen as a good business move. Not only does your business get publicity, you actually can raise more revenue than otherwise. What prompted these suspicions was this story.
The owner of a Colorado barbecue restaurant is beginning to feel the heat over plans for a “White Appreciation Day,” where only white customers will receive a 10 percent discount on their orders.
According to KUSA, Edgar Antillon and Miguel Jimenez, owners of Rubbin Buttz BBQ defended the promotion, with Antillon noting that there is already a Black History Month.
“We have a whole month for black history month,” Antillon said. “We have a whole month for Hispanic heritage month, so we thought the least we could do was offer one day to appreciate white Americans.”
They claim that the idea started out as a joke but they are going ahead with it anyway. Even if a fundraising campaign on their behalf is not initiated, the publicity generated by this move will presumably be enough that the owners can laugh all the way to the bank.
It sure looks like it. And I have no problem with it: the more money the bigoted rubes give to these con men, the less money they have to give to organizations that can do actual harm.
“Help Help! The invisible hand of the market is slapping me!”
I somewhat disagree…I think it’s done by businesses that are floundering/ failing….NO successful business owner, especially a restaurateur would openly insult an an entire demographic like this… I live in a area of the south (one of many) known for it’s barbecue..The most popular one in town serves everyone of every stripe with a smile and a thank you, and I PERSONALLY know that the owners, who are white, are pretty racist…Or at least were when thy began…Word is out that they have become considerably less so in the years of catering to EVERYONE because ‘business’ and that’s what you do when you own a business…Anyway, I love to see the books on these businesses who seem to think nothing of scuttling their businesses on nothing more than a ‘lark’ disguised as principal…
I don’t know yet if people are deliberately doing something discriminatory in their business with a view to turning it into an online fundraising appeal but it wouldn’t surprise me if people are starting to view the online fundraising as an insurance policy of sorts in the event that their discrimination costs them some money. These crowd-sourcing schemes are here to stay thanks to the internet.