Some people lack a sense of humor — seriously.
When Paisano’s Italian restaurant in Albuquerque wanted to promote a new tuna dish with black olive tapenade, owner Rick Camuglia posted a sign outside of his restaurant and put a photo on Facebook to promote “black olives matter.”
The only problem? Some people took issue with the phraseology, and that pushed Camuglia’s Facebook post viral.
Yes, he was called racist, insensitive and even accused of trivializing the shooting of blacks by police.
And those attacks, ladies and gentlemen, are what launched Camuglia’s latest, and very successful campaign — selling “black olives matter” hats and shirts.
“The thing has gone inexplicably viral,” Camuglia told Albuquerque’s KOATV-7 news.
After getting calls from Australia, Spain, France and other worldly locations — and being a smart entrepreneur — Camuglia had the slogan put on merchandise and set up a station inside the restaurant to sell the souvenirs.
“People have filled the restaurant and told us to leave up the sign,” Camuglia told Fox News. “That’s great, you know, because a lot of people make a living off working for this restaurant.”
As word spread on Twitter, some people blasted Camuglia, as you would expect.
Black Olives Matter – What a shameless way to mock the Black Lives Matter Campaign! I would rather buy this https://t.co/GfOSKYfMeC
— Ifra Nadeem (@IfraAshraf) August 16, 2016
It must be nice to be immune to racism to the degree u can joke abt its impact on others. Black Olives Matter? https://t.co/2sM90gTH5K
— TheAverageBlackMan™ (@TheAvgBlackMan) August 16, 2016
Restaurant’s ill-advised ‘Black Olives Matter’ sign sparks controversy https://t.co/0DaMidouz3 pic.twitter.com/Net8X6xdVQ
— Eater (@Eater) July 18, 2016
Others, however, saw the humor, and rightfully so.
Hahaha! I hate olives but I’d eat here. Italian restaurant under fire for selling ‘Black Olives Matter’ merchandise https://t.co/zw7j1TIUri
— Doug S. (@swt3073) August 16, 2016
What started as a peaceful protest for Black Olives Matter, turned violent when several Spanish Olives were stabbed. pic.twitter.com/gaXYyxTbvE
— RetroTrashTheatreCo! (@franzpoe) August 16, 2016
Green Olives are in jars while Black Olives by the millions, are incarcerated into CANS, never to see the light of day. BLACK OLIVES MATTER
— Tommy Webb (@thomcwebb) August 16, 2016
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