Green Mountain Gringo

[norris]

Not exactly revenge, but we'll see...

So I'm in the supermarket the other day buying some fixin's for burritos and I discover a "gourmet" Salsa named "Green Mountain Gringo".

http://www.greenmountaingringo.com

I said to myself "umm...no" and placed it back down. Sorta wish I had a Sharpie with me, I would have left a message for the next Salsa shopper. heh

I'm experienced with Hispanic communities and I gotta say that "Gringo" is nowhere near a "term of endearment". Made me wonder if MY product "Wetback Willies Refried Beans" would have the same chance of making it to the supermarket shelves?

A trip through the Gringo Website reveals this little gem...



...it has some definite pizazz! So cute with the little skateboard, helmet and snarky grin.

I'm exploring some fun options at this point. What I can say though is I hope they have put alot of effort and money into that brand recognition...cause I plan on having some double standard fun with it!

[handl3r]

DATS RACIS

[norris]

"BAG YOURSELF A BEANER?"

[Nod]

America = Mexico now. I thought everyone knew that. Anyhow, I'm going to Canada. Hopefully Alberta, Tachyon or Handler have room on their couch.

[linear]

This just shows you don't know shit about hispanic culture.

gringo is not automatically offensive, just as the word "jew" isn't. If Joe is Jewish, you can say "Joe is a Jew" and that is acceptable. You can say "Joe, that fucking Jew," and that changes the meaning.

The same does with gringo. It just means someone who is a non-native spanish speaker. Americans are hypersensitive and childishly fearful of some sort of SPANISH INVASION!@# (see LordNod's post, for example), so they've labeled the term as pejorative/offensive, but in the hispanic culture it spawned from, it wasn't (and for the most part still isn't) used it as a derogatory phrase. It's simply an adjective.

Since americans have started to become offended by it, it CAN be used negatively, but it's like the example of "Jew" I used above. It's context, not the word itself. And of course if someone is hispanic and has a predisposition against white people, they're going to play off that person's feeling of indignation and use it pejoratively.

[linear]

here's another example...

you can say

"Juan is a foreigner" and that's not necessarily racist.

but you can use that same phrase to make fun of Juan.

"JUAN IS A FOREIGNER!"

it's context.

I don't think some kind of american food imported to mexico being called "Non-English Speaker's Hot Dogs" would be considered racism in Mexico. That is the equivalent here. Great job buddy.

You fail.

[linear]

oh, and by the way...

the company was founded by two white people in Vermont.

[norris]

This just shows you don't know shit about hispanic culture.

gringo is not automatically offensive, just as the word "jew" isn't. If Joe is Jewish, you can say "Joe is a Jew" and that is acceptable. You can say "Joe, that fucking Jew," and that changes the meaning.

The same does with gringo. It just means someone who is a non-native spanish speaker. Americans are hypersensitive and childishly fearful of some sort of SPANISH INVASION!@# (see LordNod's post, for example), so they've labeled the term as pejorative/offensive, but in the hispanic culture it spawned from, it wasn't (and for the most part still isn't) used it as a derogatory phrase. It's simply an adjective.

Since americans have started to become offended by it, it CAN be used negatively, but it's like the example of "Jew" I used above. It's context, not the word itself. And of course if someone is hispanic and has a predisposition against white people, they're going to play off that person's feeling of indignation and use it pejoratively.

here's another example...

you can say

"Juan is a foreigner" and that's not necessarily racist.

but you can use that same phrase to make fun of Juan.

"JUAN IS A FOREIGNER!"

it's context.

I don't think some kind of american food imported to mexico being called "Non-English Speaker's Hot Dogs" would be considered racism in Mexico. That is the equivalent here. Great job buddy.

You fail.

oh, and by the way...

the company was founded by two white people in Vermont.

It stood out to me as a double-standard, and it is.

It sure didn't fail to get you wound up though.

[m0rdekai]

way to triple post...  your hardcore.

[Zazen]

the company was founded by two white people in Vermont.

That's kinda the point

[linear]

the company was founded by two white people in Vermont.

That's kinda the point

actually, his point was that it's racist of them damn "beaners" to market a product with that name to us whitefolk, so he's going to make "wetback salsa" to show them who's boss.

[Nod]

I'm not racist. I'm nationalist. There are TONS of Argentinians here. They don't speak great English but they generally speak the language well enough to get by. There are TONS of Romanians here. Most of them don't speak perfect English but they generally speak the language fairly well. My problem isn't with Mexicans. They're actually the majority here. Their kids compose 51% of our school system. My problem is with Mexicans who refuse to assimilate even the tiniest bit. I get that they have their own culture but I think if they're going to live and work in this country they should at least try to learn some of the language and customs. I'm not saying they can't have their own culture, which is what they try to argue here. I'm saying that it's common courtesy that if you're going to be living and working in another country you should at least learn the language. I'll never go to Germany to live and work. Know why? 'Cause I don't speak German and everyone there would call me an asshole if I expected them to learn English just to convenience me. I'll never go to Israel to live and work. Know why? 'Cause I don't speak a word of Hebrew. I'll never live and work in France either. Know why? 'Cause they're a bunch of cheese eating surrender monkeys that pussy out over a little air space after America saved their asses twice. Plus, I don't speak Frog. I think that it's a completely douchebag move to go into ANY COUNTRY and absolutely refuse to so much as learn the language. Imagine I move to Quebec  (Legally or illegally) and never bother to learn French. Then I get an American wife who doesn't speak French either. We live and work there for years barely able to with anyone. Then we have a kid. We don't speak any French so we teach the child to speak English. Then said child gets old enough to enter kindergarten and we send him off to a school who's primary language is French and expect them to just teach it to him. Of course the kids test scores are going to be low because it's all in French and English is the only language at home. Now imagine that happening on a MASSIVE SCALE. I don't hate Mexicans. I hate anyone that moves into this country and expects me to learn their language and culture to convenience them. That's bullshit. I'm sorry if that offends you but that's just how I think. I don't think it's fair that I've spent my whole life speaking English, which is a BEAUTIFUL language, and learning it's nuances and now I'm supposed to learn Spanish? Not going to happen. Not in this lifetime.

[Magus]

LordNod is right.

In Virginia (where I live) you can't get an advanced diploma if you don't pass at least 2 foreign language classes in high school. And while that may not sound so bad, keep in mind that without an advanced diploma you're pretty much screwed if you want to go to anything besides community college.

So unless a student wants a future as a Walmart employee, they have to learn a language they will never (and should never) have to use. Meanwhile, the Mexican-Americans have no problem passing these classes because they speak Spanish better than they do English.

How is that fair?

(FYI: In high school I took one semester of Spanish and averaged a C the whole time I was there. Then on the final exam, which was like 30% of a student's final grade, I ran out of time and I was less than half way done. This caused me to fail the semester. Yes, I wasted a half-year of my life learning some stupid language, and failed because I didn't speak it FAST enough. That's bullshit.)

[Nod]

I'm not against learning a second language. I'm against being forced into it just because a shit ton of people decided their country sucked and moved here. If Mexico sucks so bad why the fuck are they so worried about it's customs and language? Also, they wipe their asses and throw the shitty toilet paper on the bathroom floor because they can't flush it down the toilet in Mexico. Guess what faggots? YOU'RE NOT IN FUCKING MEXICO ANYMORE!

[Magus]

I'm not against learning a second language. I'm against being forced into it just because a shit ton of people decided their country sucked and moved here.

I'm not either, but when you can't get an advanced diploma without taking a second language, and you can't get into a good college without an advanced diploma, that's called being FORCED to learn it.

Also, they wipe their asses and throw the shitty toilet paper on the bathroom floor because they can't flush it down the toilet in Mexico.

Ew.