Burger King Whopper Ad Offends Mexicans

The Burger King Texican Whopper "inspired by the land where a man ain't afraid to sink his teeth into something hot and spicy."

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Mexico is protesting what it says is a whopper of an insult.

An advertisement for Burger King's Texican Whopper burger shows a small wrestler dressed in a cape resembling a Mexican flag. The wrestler teams up with a lanky American cowboy almost twice his height to illustrate the cross-border blend of flavors.

"The taste of Texas with a little spicy Mexican," a narrator's voice says.

The taller cowboy boosts the wrestler up to reach high shelves and helps clean tall windows, while the Mexican helps the cowboy open a jar. The lazy Mexican swims by while the Texan cleans the pool.

Mexico's ambassador to Spain said Monday he has written a letter to Burger King's offices in that nation objecting to the ad and asking that it be removed. Jorge Zermeno told Radio Formula that the ads "improperly use the stereotyped image of a Mexican."

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The company pledged Tuesday to pull the ads for its chili-flavored "Texican" hamburger, saying they were "not intended to offend anyone."

"Burger King Corp. has made the decision to revise the Texican Whopper advertising creative out of respect for the Mexican culture and its people," the company said in a statement sent to The Associated Press. Burger King, which is known for its signature Whopper hamburger, said it would air redesigned ads "as soon as commercially possible."

"The revised campaign will focus solely on the Texican Whopper sandwich and will not feature any characters or the use of the Mexican flag," the company said.

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plez sez: what are these ad execs thinking when they approve these obviously offensive projects? demeaning fried chicken ads with black people (kfc). now this over-the-top portrayal of a stereotypical mexican in a burger commercial. the only way to make this commercial more offensive would've been to have the "lil wrestler" illegally cross the border to answer the personal ad in the newspaper!

this is what happens when the people sitting around a table making decisions is not a representative sample of the people who will consume the products. after yuckin' it up at an ad that looks like it was created by a roomful of sixth grade boys, no one in the room considered that having a little person traipse around draped in a mexican flag would inflame some passion from people of mexican descent!

it's been about two years since plezWorld has graced kfc with his presence... i guess i can replace that personal boycott with one of burger king and their texican whopper!

~ ~ Citations ~ ~

Read the AJC.com article about how Burger King plans to alter the ad.

Read the NY Daily News article about the offensive Burger King Texican Whopper ad.

Read the BurgerBusiness.com article about Mexican outrage over the commercial.

Read the Fox News article about Burger King's little Mexican ad.

Read how plezWorld blew a gasket over an offensive KFC commercial.

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Peanut Butter Recall for Texas Plant

(CNN) -- The Texas Department of State Health Services on Thursday ordered the recall of all products ever shipped from the Peanut Corporation of America's plant in Plainview, Texas, after discovering dead rodents, rodent excrement and bird feathers in the plant.

The order, which applies to products shipped since the plant opened nearly four years ago, came a day after the discovery of filth in a crawl space above a production area during a health services inspection, the department said in a news release.

Inspectors also reported that the plant's ventilation system was pulling debris "from the infested crawl space into production areas of the plant resulting in the adulteration of exposed food products," the release said.

Officials at the plant, which opened in March 2005, voluntarily stopped operations Monday night. Under the order, they are not allowed to resume operations without health services approval.

The company's peanut butter and peanut paste products produced at its plant in Blakely, Georgia, have been linked to a nationwide outbreak of salmonella poisoning that has affected 600 people, killing nine.

Earlier today, Peanut Corporation of America filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy Friday in federal court in Lynchburg,Virginia. In its filing, the company said its assets were between $1 million and $10 million, and its liabilities were between $1 million and $10 million.

The salmonella outbreak so far has sickened more than 630 people and may have caused the deaths of nine people. It has led to one of the largest product recalls in the nation’s history, with more than 2,000 products recalled thus far, according to the FDA.

Under bankruptcy liquidation, creditors, including those who had filed damage claims against the company would not be paid in full for their damages. Instead they would be paid some fraction of their claims. Future lawsuits filed against the company could also be dealt with in the bankruptcy.

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plez sez: i wonder if this recall affects that Reese's Peanut Butter Cup i had earlier today?!?

lettuce. spinach. tomatoes. now peanuts... soon we won't be able to eat anything!

and now PCA is going to hide behind bankruptcy to get out of paying for the damages done by their tainted goobers. some have cited that in China the president of companies like this get the death penalty... that may the correct move, since this product is predominantly consumed by children.

~ ~ Citations ~ ~

Read the P.I.S.S.D. blog entry about peanut butter recall ramifications.

Read the CNN.com article about possible salmonella contamination at Texas peanut processing plant.

Read the CNN.com article about the plant shut down in Texas.

Read the AJC.com article about the peanut processor filing for bankruptcy.

Read the CNN.com article about how the Peanut Corp. of America filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy.

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Hurricane Gustav - Get Outta Dodge!

Hurricanes are ranked 1 to 5 in intensity on the Saffir-Simpson scale. A Category 4 has winds of 131 to 155 mph and can cause extreme damage. Hurricane Gustav rumbled through Cuba as a Category 4. Gustav has now set its sights on the Gulf Coast of the United States, with hauniting Katrina-like sights on the New Orleans area.

CNN.com reports that a hurricane watch was issued Saturday afternoon for southeastern Texas to the Alabama-Florida border as Hurricane Gustav's sustained winds reached 150 mph on its expected path to the U.S. Gulf Coast. The watch means hurricane conditions are possible within about 36 hours. It was announced Saturday as thousands were in the process of fleeing parts of Mississippi and Louisiana, three years after Hurricanes Rita and Katrina ravaged the area.

Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal is quoted as saying, ""We could see tidal surges of as much as 15 to 20 feet. We could see flooding even worse than what we saw in Hurricane Katrina."

More than a dozen parishes in Louisiana have declared states of emergency, and St. Bernard Parish began a mandatory evacuation Saturday afternoon, with authorities calling it "a matter of survival." The evacuation began at 4 p.m. in the parish, which sits just east of New Orleans and was hard hit by Hurricane Katrina.

In New Orleans, Louisiana, still recovering from Katrina, anxiety was high Saturday as residents fled, leaving behind a virtual ghost town of boarded-up homes and empty streets. "I am strongly, strongly encouraging everyone in this city to evacuate," Mayor Ray Nagin said Saturday. "Start the process now."

At the Union Passenger Terminal in downtown New Orleans, people began arriving as early as 5:30 a.m., forming a line that snaked behind the main Amtrak terminal. Armed patrols and Humvees circled the crowds of people, many who waited as long as 2 hours, enduring the heat and relentless sun, unsure of their destination.

New Orleans officials had designated 17 sites for people without transportation to board buses to take them to the terminal, where they will be moved to shelters outside New Orleans. However, scores of residents went directly to the terminal, carrying one bag, as the city had instructed. The snafu prompted confusion, as did a glitch in the computer system that was being used to register people.

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The Republican National Convention begins this week in St. Paul, Minnesota. Officials with the McCain campaign and the Republican National convention are considering changing the event's agenda as Hurricane Gustav bears down on the Gulf Coast.

Sen. John McCain's campaign manager, Rick Davis, plans to meet with officials in charge of the party's convention planning in Minneapolis-St. Paul on Sunday to review the latest news on Hurricane Gustav and what their options might be and then consult with the presumptive presidential nominee to determine what changes may need to be made.

McCain had suggested to a Fox News interviewer that the convention could be suspended if it seemed that a festive gathering was inappropriate in light of the destruction the storm may bring.

Republican Govs. Bobby Jindal of Louisiana, Charlie Crist of Florida, Haley Barbour of Mississippi and Rick Perry of Texas -- whose states that lie in the path of Gustav, named a Category 4 hurricane Saturday afternoon -- will skip the GOP convention because of the storm.

The storm has forced last-minute changes in the convention's announced schedule: If the convention -- originally scheduled to start Monday -- commences by Tuesday, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney's speech will probably move to that night from Wednesday.

Read CNN.com articles about Hurricane Gustav here and here and here.

Read New York Times article about Hurricane Gustav here.


plez sez: in light of what happened three years ago in new orleans, a force evacuation of the city is in order. especially, in those areas that were hardest hit by katrina, the governor should mobilize the national guard to clear the city out! it would be a public relations nightmare, with the republican national convention going on up the mississippi river from new orleans, to have a repeat of what occurred when the bush administration dropped the ball after katrina.

if i was governor of louisiana, i'd have the national guard going door-to-door requiring folk to pack a bag, registering them on a database, and requiring them to leave the city. for those who do not have transportation (or were handicapped or elderly), load them on anything with wheels that is leaving the city.

as bad as it seems, hurricane gustav presents a bold opportunity for the party of george w. bush to redeem itself during the week of their convention. they could cancel the party altogether and move en masse to the gulf coast and assist in the cleanup effort, or they could shorten the convention and handle only essential business (in stark contrast to last week's weeklong coronation of Barack Obama in denver).

last, and definitely, not least... if you are a resident of the gulf coast, you shouldn't be sitting at home and reading plezWorld, you should be getting the HELL outta Dodge!

BLOG UPDATE (08/30/2008 10:30 PM EST): The AJC reports that New Orleans has ordered a mandatory evacuation of the city... read the article here.

Clinton Comeback Kid II

For all of those who were expecting a Clinton Concession Speech last night, were rewarded with an Obama Concession Speech... as Hillary racked up wins in Rhode Island, Ohio, and Texas primaries. a day or so ago, my crystal ball had predicted that her campaign would soldier on, but it had no idea that she would wake up on Wednesday morning all refreshed with a new bounce in her step!

I'm afraid the Democratic Party battle will wage on until the convention in July!

Please recall that Bill Clinton came from behind in 1992 to win the Democratic nomination... could history be repeating itself?

Read the entire Washington Post article about the Clinton wins here.


plez sez: i wasn't surprised with rhode island and i was expecting her to win in ohio. i was SHOCKED that the wheels fell off of the obama bandwagon the way they did in texas (even though she only made off with 4 more delegates than obama)!

based on the way things have panned out since super tuesday, it appears that clinton does well in these large delegate rich states (new york, california, texas, ohio, etc.), while obama message is more amenable to liberal enclaves in midwestern, southern, and western states. something in the pit of my stomach tells me that clinton has regained her composure and will continue to "go negative" on obama's lack of experience (since the "red telephone" ad seemed to work so well in the last week).

it's funny, but when i heard about the "who do you want answering the phone at 3:00 AM?" campaign tactic, the first thing that came to mind was that if hillary was in the white house, the person answering the phone would probably be bill clinton, "uh, mr. president, would you mind putting your wife on the phone!"

i wonder if rep. john lewis is contemplating that he should change his superdelegate vote back to hillary clinton?