Frito-Lay urged to drop sponsorship of Az Sporting Events

[SC1903A3]

Read this article on the DMN online edition

07:07 PM CDT on Monday, May 17, 2010

By KAREN ROBINSON-JACOBS and DIANNE SOLIS
krobinson@dallasnews.com
dsolis@dallasnews.com
Frito-Lay Inc. is among the “dozens of companies” nationwide being urged to drop sponsorship of sporting events in Arizona following that state’s passage of a controversial immigration bill.

Reports circulated Monday that Latino-activist groups — including the League of United Latin American Citizens — were calling for a boycott of products made by Frito-Lay if the Plano-based snack maker did not end its sponsorship of the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl in Glendale, Ariz.

A national spokesman for LULAC, one of the nation’s largest Latino activist groups, said LULAC is not calling for a boycott, though some local members might embrace such a move. He said he is making plans to meet with executives from a variety of companies to talk about their sponsorships.

“Let me be clear: There is no LULAC boycott of Frito-Lay or any other company,” said Brent Wilkes, executive director of the Washington-based group, which has its strongest presence in Texas.

He said Frito-Lay is among the “dozens of companies that we’ve reached out to, to ask them to pull their sponsorship of events in that state.” He did not say if he was meeting with any other Texas companies.

A spokeswoman for Frito-Lay said the snack maker “values its long-term relationship with the Fiesta Bowl, which has given college football fans some memorable games. Any decision that could impact the numerous employees we have in Arizona or the people associated with our partnerships must be seriously weighed.”

Accion America, a small Dallas-based group formed to protest restrictive laws proposed in Farmers Branch and Irving, said it is urging people who oppose the Arizona law to boycott Frito-Lay until it pulls out of the bowl game.

Carlos Quintanilla, president of Accion America, said Frito-Lay was singled out because of the “billions and billions” the Latino community spends on its products.

Arizona is believed to be the first state to demand that immigrants meet federal requirements to carry identity documents. It is already a federal requirement for noncitizen immigrants over 18 carry immigration documents showing they are in the U.S. lawfully, said Maria Elena Garcia-Upson, the Dallas spokeswoman for Citizenship and Immigration Services.

The controversial measure has sparked national calls for boycotts — but most have been aimed at encouraging people not to attend events in Arizona.

It ticked me off to the point that I emailed Frito Lay

I just read in the newspaper that Carlos Quintanilla, president of Accion America is urging you to boycott Arizona by not sponsoring the Fiesta Bowel. I urge you to not bow to Mr. Quintanilla' s call for a boycott. The Arizona law is a political issue between the federal government and the state of Arizona. By Mr. Quintanilla's urging your company to boycott Arizona you risk your company being itself boycotted. This is a no win situation for you and I urge you to not be drawn into something that needs to be kept between Arizona and the federal government.

[Oldgringo]

Do y'all remember one of Frito-Lays advertisement icons of yesteryear? You don't? It was the Frito Bandito...si. ,No one, in politics or business, wants to offend these people. They work, they will vote, they spend money; plus, they are not all bad people. Therein lies the problem.

WWYD, what would you do if the situation was reversed and you (and I) were on the outside looking in?

[Munk]

WWYD, what would you do if the situation was reversed and you (and I) were on the outside looking in?

I suppose I'd go through the necessary steps in becoming a legal citizen.

[mikeintexas]

Do y'all remember one of Frito-Lays advertisement icons of yesteryear? You don't? It was the Frito Bandito...si. No one, in politics or business, wants to offend these people. They work, they will vote they spend money; plus, they are not all bad people. Therein lies the problem.

WWYD, what would you do if the situation was reversed and you (and I) were on the outside looking in?

Personally, I'd get my facts straight before picking up the torches and pitchforks. I'm still doing one of these trying to figure out why all the noise about laws that are already in place.

[Dragonfighter]

Do y'all remember one of Frito-Lays advertisement icons of yesteryear? You don't? It was the Frito Bandito...si. No one, in politics or business, wants to offend these people. They work, they will vote they spend money; plus, they are not all bad people. Therein lies the problem.

WWYD, what would you do if the situation was reversed and you (and I) were on the outside looking in?

Personally, I'd get my facts straight before picking up the torches and pitchforks. I'm still doing one of these trying to figure out why all the noise about laws that are already in place.

Good call. The text of the bill is here. As I read it, it mirrors existing federal law and simply adds the authorization for local law enforcement to ascertain a person's residential status in cooperation with INS and or arrest those found in violation.

They can't go around and ask people for papers without a preexisting lawful contact first. IOW a traffic stop or arrest for another crime.

[SQLGeek]

WWYD, what would you do if the situation was reversed and you (and I) were on the outside looking in?

Would that be if you and I were legal American citizens of Hispanic decent? Or would it be if you and I were illegal immigrants?

[Oldgringo]

WWYD, what would you do if the situation was reversed and you (and I) were on the outside looking in?

Would that be if you and I were legal American citizens of Hispanic decent? Or would it be if you and I were illegal immigrants?

I'm sorry, please repeat the question.

I somehow understand folk of all races, creeds and colors who are interested in bettering themselves; however, illegal is illegal.

[SQLGeek]

Sorry, I will rephrase.

When you ask what we would do if we were on the outside looking in, which situation are you speaking of? Being an illegal immigrant?

[ddstuder]

Remember, the key word in this is ILLEGAL!

[DONT TREAD ON ME]

WWYD, what would you do if the situation was reversed and you (and I) were on the outside looking in?

I suppose I'd go through the necessary steps in becoming a legal citizen.

My family came over here from Poland. We settled down in a predominantly German area and "Americanized" our name and became LEGAL citizens of the United States of America.

[The Annoyed Man]

According to the 2000 Census, "Hispanic or Latino" was 35,305,818 people. Total population in that census was 281,421,906. (I truly don't know if only citizens are counted in the census or not.) But, let's assume for the sake of argument at all 35,305,818 are citizens. That makes the group "Hispanic or Latino" to be 12.5% of the nation's population as of the year 2000. In the intervening 10 years, we can assume that it has probably increased somewhat, but we can't know how much until the new census figures are published, so for the sake of expediency, I'm going to go with the figure of 13%.

Now, according to this Dallas Morning Snooze article from February of this year, Frito-Lay's 2009 revenues were $13.2 billion. That's revenues, not profits.

So if we use the population figure of 13%, then Hispanic/Latinos may have accounted for as much as $1 billion in purchases (assuming that 100% of Hispanics/Latinos purchase Frito-Lay products, which probably is not the case), but most decidedly NOT "billions and billions." Furthermore, what percentage of Hispanic/Latino residents are on board with LULAC's agenda? I personally know plenty of Hispanic friends who are none too happy with our failure to control illegal immigration, and who take the conservative position on this issue. So even if Hispanics who feel this way may well be a minority of the total Hispanic residents, the LULA position is by no means monolithic.

OTH, there is no surprise in this. Radicals are almost always about hyperventilating. And that is the mistake that race-baiters make. They assume that their (substitute racial/ethnic identity here) brothers and sisters are a monolithic voting/buying block, when that is just not statistically true by any rational means of measurement.

[45 4 life]

Take a look at Mexico's immagration laws and then tell me how you feel.

http://www.newswithviews.com/Slagle/john18.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; (Copy and paste in browser)

I just sent my emails to the City of Austin and the ROT Bike Rally organizers announcing my boycott of Autin. Between the gun show rules and the boycott of Arizona, I believe I have had enough.

[DONT TREAD ON ME]

I like what Teddy said...


Theodore Roosevelt's ideas on Immigrants and being an AMERICAN in 1907.

'In the first place, we should insist that if the immigrant who comes here in good faith becomes an American and assimilates himself to us, he shall be treated on an exact equality with everyone else, for it is an outrage to discriminate against any such man because of creed, or birthplace, or origin. But this is predicated upon the person's becoming in every facet an American, and nothing but an American...There can be no divided allegiance here. Any man who says he is an American, but something else also, isn't an American at all. We have room for but one flag, the American flag... We have room for but one language here, and that is the English language.. And we have room for but one sole loyalty and that is a loyalty to the American people.'
Theodore Roosevelt 1907

[Oldgringo]

I like what Teddy said...


Theodore Roosevelt's ideas on Immigrants and being an AMERICAN in 1907.

'In the first place, we should insist that if the immigrant who comes here in good faith becomes an American and assimilates himself to us, he shall be treated on an exact equality with everyone else, for it is an outrage to discriminate against any such man because of creed, or birthplace, or origin. But this is predicated upon the person's becoming in every facet an American, and nothing but an American...There can be no divided allegiance here. Any man who says he is an American, but something else also, isn't an American at all. We have room for but one flag, the American flag... We have room for but one language here, and that is the English language.. And we have room for but one sole loyalty and that is a loyalty to the American people.'
Theodore Roosevelt 1907

TR's statement above also applies to native born Americans. Where are the Teddy Roosevelts when we need them?

Furthermore, "...where have all the flowers gone...."

[The Annoyed Man]

From the Hot Air Blog:

http://hotair.com/archives/2010/05/18/a ... er-sb1070/
AZ utility board member responds to LA boycott over SB1070
POSTED AT 2:55 PM ON MAY 18, 2010 BY ED MORRISSEY

The Los Angeles City Council voted to boycott the state of Arizona over its new immigration-enforcement law, and now the Arizona Corporation Commission has responded. Gary Pierce, one of the commissioners chosen in state-wide elections to the utility regulation panel, notes that Los Angeles gets about 25% of its power from Arizona producers. If the City of Angels really wants a boycott, Pierce offers his services to help, as he explains in a letter to Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and copied to Hot Air:

Dear Mayor Villaraigosa,

I was dismayed to learn that the Los Angeles City Council voted to boycott Arizona and Arizona-based companies — a vote you strongly supported — to show opposition to SB 1070 (Support our Law Enforcement and Safe Neighborhoods Act).

You explained your support of the boycott as follows: “While we recognize that as neighbors, we share resources and ties with the State of Arizona that may be difficult to sever, our goal is not to hurt the local economy of Los Angeles, but to impact the economy of Arizona. Our intent is to use our dollars — or the withholding of our dollars — to send a message.” (emphasis added)

I received your message; please receive mine. As a state-wide elected member of the Arizona Corporation Commission overseeing Arizona’s electric and water utilities, I too am keenly aware of the “resources and ties” we share with the City of Los Angeles. In fact, approximately twenty-five percent of the electricity consumed in Los Angeles is generated by power plants in Arizona.

If an economic boycott is truly what you desire, I will be happy to encourage Arizona utilities to renegotiate your power agreements so Los Angeles no longer receives any power from Arizona-based generation. I am confident that Arizona’s utilities would be happy to take those electrons off your hands. If, however, you find that the City Council lacks the strength of its convictions to turn off the lights in Los Angeles and boycott Arizona power, please reconsider the wisdom of attempting to harm Arizona’s economy.

People of goodwill can disagree over the merits of SB 1070. A state-wide economic boycott of Arizona is not a message sent in goodwill.

Sincerely,

Commissioner Gary Pierce

A scan of the letter can be downloaded here. I wonder what Commissioner Pierce has to say about Councilman Ed Reyes’ lack of understanding of California’s own penal code? Maybe the AZCC could buy a copy for Reyes, although it might be difficult to read during the blackout in Los Angeles.

Right on.