La Carnita, a popular chain of Mexican restaurants in Toronto, sparked a social media storm after a Trump-inspired Instagram post. Someone at La Carnita thought it’d be a good idea to use Trump’s recently revealed lewd comments about women as a caption on a picture of tacos.
Here’s the photo that was shared on Instagram yesterday:
The caption read, “What if Donald said ‘grab her by the taco’…”
It didn’t take long for the photo to get shared and for angry comments to flood the restaurant’s social media profiles.
La Carnita took the photo down from their Instagram and shared the following apology over 3 tweets:
Part 1. Friends + followers,
Tonight, we made a mistake. A big one. We used a caption that was dumb, rude, and insensitive.
— La Carnita Ltd. (@la_carnita) October 12, 2016
Part 2. Once we realized our error, we quickly removed it. For anyone who saw it, know that we understand your anger
— La Carnita Ltd. (@la_carnita) October 12, 2016
Part 3. and fully realize why it was inappropriate. We truly apologize. We can do better, and we will.
Love, la carnita.
— La Carnita Ltd. (@la_carnita) October 12, 2016
The apology did not go over well as many people felt that it was too corporate. It seemed like La Carnita was sorry for the caption and not for the misogyny it represented.
@la_carnita Like, you didn’t just learn that it was offensive after people told you so. It was clickbait for bottom feeders.
— Jessica Weingarten (@jessweingarten) October 12, 2016
@la_carnita cost yourself this taco-loving customer. Given media coverage, you can’t plead ignorance, your “mistake”was epically distasteful
— Laura Reinholz (@LauraMReinholz) October 12, 2016
@la_carnita Total corporate apology-speak, crisis 101 playbook, insincere & no demonstration of change/accountability = “Sorry I got caught”
— Jess McMullin (@jessmcmullin) October 12, 2016
@la_carnita You needed a bunch of tweets before you realized that making fun of sexual assault was “an error”? Unbelievable. Jerks.
— VickySanderson (@vickysanderson) October 12, 2016
Earlier today, Andrew Richmond, an owner at La Carnita posted to the restaurant’s Facebook page:
As with the apology shared on Twitter, this post was also greeted with disappointment.
Previous history
One theme that became quite apparent today was that this is not La Carnita’s first time perpetuating this kind of frat-boy behaviour.
This used to be the sign on their women’s washroom door:
wondering whether the john st. @la_carnita still has this image on their ~gender neutral~ washroom door? pic.twitter.com/z3V308Hxr1
— total computer chick (@Ynot2K) August 12, 2016
Yes, that’s an image of a man peeking over a wall at a woman. On the door to the washroom.
There were also references made to the usage of “tacHOES” by La Carnita on social media.
A year ago a bunch of us got mad at La Carnita for tacHOES and the year before that for shaming girls in Uggs. Broken record on resto bros.
— Lauren Simmons (@laurendorphin) October 11, 2016
Remember a few week’s ago when Skittles represented their brand with class? Clearly, the problems at La Carnita run deeper than just needing a good social media person.
There is a serious culture problem when a business (restaurant or otherwise) thinks it’s okay to post anti-women messages on their social media. Will the sensitivity training help La Carnita? It’s hard to say.
What’s great about Toronto is that there are plenty of great Mexican restaurants to choose from. Two that come to mind are Grand Electric and El Catrin.
As for my views on La Carnita. This gif sums it up perfectly:
I personally feel that it was something meant to be funny. While I don’t condone what Trump said, the truth is, unfortunately, that many men AND women say things like this, they just aren’t in the public spotlight. La Carnita was just trying to make light of the situation. No one can say anything anymore without someone taking offense to it. That’s the kind of world we are living in now, the world of political correctness.
I agree that they probably thought they were funny. But with La Carnita, it seems to be a common attitude. Thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment.
WOW!!! That is so insensitive!
Agreed. 🙂
Bye Felicia! I agree, a mistake with a sincere apology is one thing. Several “mistakes” followed by a lame attempt to make things right only because people are watching is totally different.
Thanks for stopping by, Christina.
Oh my. Hard to erase a track record, and they haven’t made it any better for themselves. A line needs to be drawn!
Appreciate the comment, Amanda. 🙂
Wow, the sheer fact that they would even post it in the first place is enough for me to never want to go to the restaurant.
Thank you for stopping by, Victoria. 🙂