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Current Events => General Discussion => Topic started by: Ptarmigan on July 30, 2020, 06:57:26 PM

Title: Trader Joe's wises up, reverses course, tells the leftist political-correctness
Post by: Ptarmigan on July 30, 2020, 06:57:26 PM
Trader Joe's wises up, reverses course, tells the leftist political-correctness mob 'no'
https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2020/07/trader_joes_wises_up_reverses_course_tells_politicalcorrectness_mob_no.html

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Have we reached Peak Corporate Cave-In?

It kind of looks like it — Trader Joe's has decided to reverse course and not change all the brand labels of its products to satisfy the wokeness demands of a tiny, largely white, racism-parsing left-wing mob.  Here's the statement:

To Our Valued Customers:

In light of recent feedback and attention we've received about our product naming, we have some things we'd like to say to clarify our approach.

A few weeks ago, an online petition was launched calling on us to "remove racist packaging from [our] products." Following were inaccurate reports that the petition prompted us to take action. We want to be clear: we disagree that any of these labels are racist. We do not make decisions based on petitions.

We make decisions based on what customers purchase, as well as the feedback we receive from our customers and Crew Members. If we feel there is need for change, we do not hesitate to take action.

Decades ago, our Buying Team started using product names, like Trader Giotto's, Trader José's, Trader Ming's, etc. We thought then—and still do—that this naming of products could be fun and show appreciation for other cultures. For example, we named our Mexican beer "Trader José Premium" and a couple guacamole products are called "Avocado's Number" in a kitschy reference to a mathematical theory.  These products have been really popular with our customers, including some budding mathematicians. 

We constantly reevaluate what we are doing to ensure it makes sense for our business and aligns with customers' expectations. A couple years ago we asked our Buying Team to review all our products to see if we needed to update any older packages, and also see if the associated brands developed years ago needed to be refreshed. We found that some of the older names or products just weren't connecting or selling very well; so, they were discontinued. It's kind of what we do.

Recently we have heard from many customers reaffirming that these name variations are largely viewed in exactly the way they were intended­—as an attempt to have fun with our product marketing. We continue our ongoing evaluation, and those products that resonate with our customers and sell well will remain on our shelves.

Trader Joe's has been a unique, fun and neighborly place to shop for over 50 years. We look forward to taking care of our wonderful customers for many future decades.

That's a big change from all the cancel culture that's taking every minority face off food-label packaging, from Mrs. Butterworth to the Cream of Wheat man to Aunt Jemima to Eskimo Pies to the Land O'Lakes Indian maiden and more, leaving just the faces of whites on the packages.  Trader Jose, Trader Ming, Arabian Joe, Maitre Pierre, Trader Giotto, Trader Joe San and the rest, though, look as though they might just stay, just as their customers like.

Seems like Trader Joe's was going to cave, but reversed course.

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Yes, it did have an effect, and now the lefties are gathering more signatures to complain further.  See how Change.org arranged the two statements and framed the issue on its site.  They thought they had a cave-in from Big Corporate, and now are upset that they don't.

But the rest of us see something good happening.

Trader Joe's must have taken a look at who was behind the petition and decided it was total bee ess.  Who's behind it?  A rich little wokester white high school teenager no doubt eager to please her teachers and college admissions committees named Briones Bedell.  Rest assured that she knows nothing about racism; she's just another Karen looking to "atone."

Second, she drew very few signatures to her petition — a miserable 4,900 at last count, falling short of her 5,000 goal.  This, despite fawning media profiles linked on her Twitter feed and copious glowing press.  Seriously, she got fewer than 5,000 signatures and a lot of people trolling her.  That doesn't sound like the person who's earned a right to push around big corporations, except that she knows they'll let her.  Maybe not now.

The remark by the Trader Joe's employee above tells the real story — that Trader Joe's introduces Americans to a wonderful variety of unique food they might not ever taste were there no Trader Joe's.  It's cultural sharing in the best sense of the word, and it delights millions and millions.  Who would have tasted Alsace Tarte Tatin or Dukkah spice (please, please Trader Joe's, bring it back), or Mandarin orange chicken, the top-selling item in the store, or Salvadoran coffee, or Indian Palak Paneer, or Thai eggplant, or Peruvian chimichurri rice without it?  So many tasty things to be found there, and tons of things that adapt to special diets — love the sugar-free sliced turkey they stock; try to find it elsewhere.  The Middle Eastern ghee, by the way, should be labeled "ghee" and not "clarified butter" and come in a bigger jar.  What's with the white-bread sanitizing there?  Bottom line, though, is that Trader Joe's introduces American palates to new kinds of foods, and that's a heckuva lot better than mushed blandness, the same no matter where you go, all designed for high-chair wokester tastes.

Briones Bedell was behind the petition.

Briones Bedell
https://twitter.com/BrionesBedell
Title: Re: Trader Joe's wises up, reverses course, tells the leftist political-correctness
Post by: Texacon on July 31, 2020, 01:02:12 PM
I hope to see more of this type of behavior. Once you bow you can’t bow deep enough to satisfy those you’re bowing to.

KC