Comments on When Commerce and Commemoration Collide

I didn’t know the Ray Nagin moonlighted at Tully’s. Let’s hope that works out better for him than his day job.

Oh please. Chocolate is totally associated with Valentine's Day. It makes perfect sense to make February chocolate month.

Since the tagline is "America's Favorite Substitute for Love," I suspect that Tully's is marketing off of Valentine's Day, not Black History Month.

I like to call Chocolate Syrup "Santorum Sauce"

http://www.bigfatwhale.com/archives/bfw_284.html

Every other month is still "Cracker Month."

Um, I don't doubt that Tully's was aiming to celebrate Valentine's Day, not belittle Black History Month--but that doesn't make the decision to run with "Chocolate Month" any less stupid.

i'm with #3.

sometimes chocolate is just chocolate.

Well #3 one could read the tag line and think "Instead of love just have some chocolate, you know towards black America" In any case what a STUPID advertising stint. It is almost as dume as that 3:21 thing they pushed last year.

Oh boy, are we about to revisit the whole racist mocha shake thingy from Dairy Queen from oh so long ago? Anyone else remember that?

wasn't it a Mochalatto? lil help?

It was a Moolatte.

I hate that I know that.

David, I disagree. Valentine's Day has been around a lot longer than Black History Month. Yes, it sucks that they picked that one instead of January (you know, MLK's birth month) but what can you do? Make it politically incorrect for any company to capitalize on chocolate's association with love?

I thought porn and masturbation were America's favorite substitutes for love...

I love chocolate.

And the best comment award goes to....Ryan @ 13!!!!

"Celebrating Chocolate Month"?!!! How can you people fail to howl with the unintended hilarity of it all?!

i love porn and masturbation. if tully's or the black history people or both jointly want to work some of their chocolate love into my porn and masturbation, well then i'm all for it. but then let's call it "porn masturbation chocolate history month."

Ryan @ 3 wins.

Good God! I am SO tired of everything being turned into a race/gender/age/height/blah/blah/blah issue. Seriously - could people just GET OVER themselves.
According to the calendar hanging in my kitchen - February is also the month for: Waitangi Day (NZ) 2/6, Lincoln's Birthday (US) & National Foundation Day (Japan) 2/12, Valentine's Day (US) 2/14, National Flag of Canada Day (CAN) 2/15, Chinese New Year (Hong Kong) 2/18, Family Day, Washington's Birthday, Presidents Day 2/19, Mardi Gras 2/20, Ash Wednesday 2/21. There you go - there are a few more opportunities for you to go forth and find more things to trumpet as offensive, evil doing out there.
Me, personally, I'm gonna buy some chocolate for my honey for Valentine's Day, which is celebrated in February, which also is the chosen month for Black History Month.

Good God! I am SO tired of everything being turned into a race/gender/age/height/blah/blah/blah issue. Seriously - could people just GET OVER themselves.
According to the calendar hanging in my kitchen - February is also the month for: Waitangi Day (NZ) 2/6, Lincoln's Birthday (US) & National Foundation Day (Japan) 2/12, Valentine's Day (US) 2/14, National Flag of Canada Day (CAN) 2/15, Chinese New Year (Hong Kong) 2/18, Family Day, Washington's Birthday, Presidents Day 2/19, Mardi Gras 2/20, Ash Wednesday 2/21. There you go - there are a few more opportunities for you to go forth and find more things to trumpet as offensive, evil doing out there.
Me, personally, I'm gonna buy some chocolate for my honey for Valentine's Day, which is celebrated in February, which also is the chosen month for Black History Month.

just wanted to make sure you got my point. :)

definitely blog-worthy. very stupid marketing people at Tullys. bad coffee and bad marketing. race issue, not so much.

Seriously: Who identified the Tully's flub as "evildoing"?

I'm not even saying it's racist, just an impressively klutzy advertising faux pas.

But thanks for sharing, twice.

Should we all head over to that Chocolate City bar (formerly Deano's) on Madison to celebrate?

Mofo Destroyer: Thanks for understanding.

According to the National Confectioners Association, there are already FOUR "National Chocolate Days", on "International Chocolate Day", plus an entire "National Chocolate Week". Interestingly (or not, depending) none of these fall in the month of February.

However, according to another web site(damned spam filter!), February IS "National Snack Food Month".

I have no idea who or what entity is responsible for handing out "national ___ days/months", but make of it what you will.

Hey Seriously, you should change your name to Boring. 'K, thx.

i try to exclusively support independent coffee retailers but, it should be pointed out that tully's did the right thing by bowing to pressure from UW students last year with regard to fair trade coffee beans.

it should also be noted that tully's is cited as one of the retailers using fair trade cocoa. fair trade certified website.

seattle is also home to the first roaster of certified fair trade cocoa beans, theo chocolate in fremont.

It seems to me that this was a coincidence... and I'm hoping white chocolate is on the menu. Because I like my chocolate like I like my men: pasty white.

What's offensive is Coke's new ad campaign celebrating Black History Month. Called "Timeline," it shows old Coke bottles next to great moments in African-American history. It fails to mention, however, the Coca-Cola Company's heavy investments in apartheid South Africa.

tullys changed their chocolate to shit. thats why they have that stupid poster, it just brought back my anger.

Shouldn't Chicano history month be the shortest since mexicans are the shortest ethnic group in america?

There is enough to be outraged about in this world. This is not one of them.

-Reverend Foot

Jesus, Doug, you're missing something very obvious there: Coca-Cola is based in Atlanta, and had a long history of heavy investments in apartheid AMERICA.

As for Tully's, and every other Official Month and Official Day ever dreamed up by some marketroid, all I gotta say is, what did you expect? James Baldwin?

Tullys defenders, lighten up, this was posted as an "appreciate the irony issue." I don't think anyone needs to holler about how tired they are about political correctness or race issues here, Schmader is right, simply a klutzy advertising faux pas.

Although, I think there is some room to get angry that more middle class white people are going to visit the Tully's on 19th for chocolate than will ever think about, nor appreciate Black History month.

#29 = best post! I happen to enjoy my men in the same manner.

This is obviously not a race-issue (although, so many people want it to be). I just can't believe that somewhere down the chain of command, someone at Tully's didn't look at it and see that it could be taken the wrong way!

Why you crying for? February is Black Love Month.

Comte - I think congress has to make some proclamation that it's "So & So" month. Speaking of which, I am a "So & So" and I don't have a month.

James Jones - I think, on average, Asians are shorter than Chicanos.

Three words to this: White Suburban Guilt. "Chocolate lover" is a term of affection... a euphemism for an African American sex partner. Or a fan of cocoa based confectionaries. Sheesh... they didn't even allude to African American Month in the add. Not everything in the world is a slight and if it is: Get a grip.

God, it's SAINT Valentine's Day, people. I guess you've all extended your war on Christmas a few more months.

No way! Look at this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_height the average mexican american man is less than 5'5", and the average asian man is 5'7".
Have you ever spent time in a mexican neighborhood? (I live in one in SF) I'm 5'10" and I'm the tallest person on my block.

Especially indigos, those are a short bunch.

I will forever boycott Tully’s due to their travesty known as the 'Swirkle'!

I love coffee flavoured milkshakes and when drug into a Tullys by a caffeine addicted friend, I asked if they had milkshakes. The person behind the counter suggested that a ‘Swirkle’ was similar. I wish I had tried it in the store before I left, so I could spit the first taste into their face! It was so foul I prised the lid off and attempted to discern what it was concocted of. Apparently nothing more than foam and used coffee grounds amongst some half diced ice, I poured it into the gutter and swore off Tullys forever!

Oh, and the subject at hand? Dumb PR move and foolish because of that, that's all.

ok, had my lighthouse coffe, turned my face to the sun and shook off my crappy mood. I definitely woke up on the wrong side of the bed today.

I got the ad, I got where you were going with it David.
The Tully's marketing pro's, sadly, probably weren't even thinking about the possible interpretations.

My original post was a spontanoues reaction to the letter from the Tully's new employee.

I see many positive responses, but is there not reason to believe that this is completely racist and that we should demand that tullys pull this advertising campaign? I believe contacting the NAACP is in order. I know there are a huge number of African Americans that work at Tully's (Yeah right) and I am sure one of their African American employees in the home office were in support of this, oh wait there aren't any. This is an outrage.

No doubt this would never have come to pass if the corporate office weren’t so pasty white.

The marketing department definately are riders of the short bus. I'm sure they will have to do a road show from a store that has an african american customer base to celebrate the love of black chocolate... jack asses

K X One, if it makes you feel any better - the swirkle hasn't been on the menu for about 3 years.

As an employee, I'm not looking forward to the inevitable backlash from customers to our faces. See, corporate doesn't have to worry about that. They can ignore emails, we can't ignore the customers.

What an oversight!

We have a Tully's in the building where I work. When I mentioned the implications of their advertisement campaign to the on-duty manager, he recommended I call their hotline or send an email. I told him I wasn't complaining, just pointing our their blunder.

I so hope this makes it on the Daily Show!

I work for tully's and was the first in our store to notice this nonsense...
20 minutes after I posted it onto every wall of our store, a black guy comes up and says "chocolate month?? its funny...but it's wrong"

december's ads were "tastier than a tennis bracelet"

I want to slap the marketing team in the face and say "snap out of it!"

I have to Laugh about this! Everytime we get new stuff up it makes me giggle.. Everytime it gets kornier. Completly over looked. yes. Should have been caught.. yes. BUT come on people. Give it a rest. Its for fucking Valentines day.. Geez!!!!!