[Mpls] Chino Latino's racist, sexist billboards

[Lynnell Mickelsen]

The following e-mail was forwarded to me today:

CHINO LATINO DOES IT AGAIN: CALL TO PROTEST NEW RACIST BULLETIN BOARD

Chino Latino is at it again! They have a new billboard up: "Our happy hour is cheaper than a Bangkok brothel."

Please call them to complain. This is not their first racist bulletin board.

I really don't think it matters what you say, they are pretty smarmy about the whole thing. Mostly just let them know you find it offensive, you want them to take it down immediately, and you won't be eating at any Chino Latino or any of the other restaurants owned by the same company (Manny's Steakhouse, Buca di Beppo, Figlio's, The Goodearth, Muffuletta).

Please take a minute to do this. Please e-mail me back and let me know what kind of response you get. Thanks!

Michael Larson, Restaurant Manager, Chino Latino, 612-824-7878
Phil Roberts, CEO, Parasole Restaurant Holdings (owns Chino Latino) 612-822-0016

----Juliana Pegues at [EMAIL PROTECTED]


Lynnell Mickelsen adds:

When I got this e-mail today, I called Chino Latino in Uptown. Their executive chef, Bob Holton (Or Bolton?) answered the phone and confirmed that this billboard is indeed up, all over town, as part of Chino Latino's latest advertising campaign.
I explained to him that I had spent time in Bangkok and lived in Southeast Asia where these brothels are common. I told him these prostitutes are poor young girls, abandoned or sold to the brothels by their desperately poor families. They can be 12 years old or younger. Once you became a prostitute in Southeast Asia, you have no future--no education, no hope of getting married, having a family or any kind of normal human interactions. You're ostracized by society. You often get AIDS. You usually die young. And until then, you're virtually enslaved by your brothel owner. Who sells you dirt cheap to men from all over the world, who come to Bangkok for sex tours.
So I said to the Chino Latino executive chef, "I'm all for funny, cool billboards to increase your business. But this one isn't funny. It legitimizes a business that's not much different from a concentration camp or slavery. And it doesn't make Chino Latino look good. So why not take these billboards down and come up with one that's fun AND good for your business?"
Chef Bob said he wished that all the people calling to protest this billboard would leave Chino Latino alone. If we're were so concerned about the sex-tour trade in Bangkok, he said, we should protest that instead.
I said, well, plenty of people do. But meanwhile, Chino Latino is an Uptown restaurant, in the city of Minneapolis, about a mile and a half from my house. And right now, Chino Latino is putting these offensive billboards up in my neighborhood and my city. So that's why I'm calling you.
It was a polite conversation, but basically, Executive Chef Bob Holton, didn't seem to get it--which apparently puts him in with the rest of the Chino Latino management team.
. Sooooooo Chino Latino should probably get a few more phone calls. Maybe if they had to spend their time answering their phone and losing customers, they'd think twice before they put up yet another offensive billboard.

Michael Larson, Restaurant Manager, Chino Latino, 612-824-7878 (or ask to speak to the manager on duty.)

Phil Roberts, CEO, Parasole Restaurant Holdings (owns Chino Latino) 612-822-0016

Or you can e-mail the company at [EMAIL PROTECTED]

Lynnell Mickelsen
Ward 13, Linden Hills



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