There has been a lot of talk concerning political correctness over the last few years and it seems like almost everybody has a strong opinion on the subject. While many businesses have tried to stay quiet on the matter as to not alienate any potential customers, a restaurant chain in Houston, Texas decided to just the opposite and have let their position known.
A sign that can be best described as “anti-politically correct”. Within just a few days of posting the sign, it managed to get the attention of the public and while some were amused by what they had to say, others were quite offended. This sign was posted at the Berryhill Baja Grill and consisted of a notice informing patrons that the restaurant says Merry Christmas, God Bless America in addition to saluting the flag and gives thanks to our troops, firefighters, and police officers. It also informed patrons that they were welcome to leave if they were offended. The Chief Executive Officer of Berryhill states that he wanted to draw attention to the political correctness movement as he believes it has done overboard.
Jeff Anon, the CEO of Berryhill, has gotten a lot of attention after the sign was posted and he is happy to see the discussions that it has welcomes. One of the big issues that he had with political correctness was the recent controversy over coffee cups at a large coffee brand’s establishments as they had decided on a plain red design in the name of inclusivity instead of the holiday spirit. Anon decided that enough was enough and he wanted to speak out about just how far the political correctness climate has gone as he refused to let it impact the way that he ran his business. After being shown a sign by his son that featured a similar design, he created his own to hang in his own establishment. After garnering a lot of attention, he released a statement that included, “I don’t think anybody means anything bad or mean when they say Merry Christmas, and I thought somebody had to stand up and say enough of this.” While he admits that there were plenty of people that weren’t happy about what the CEO posted in his restaurants, he also points out that there were even more who enjoyed the sentiment.
In his statement, Jeff Anon mentions that there were around 10 to 20 people for everyone that didn’t find the sign appropriate. He also goes on to mention that some offended customers went as far as removing the signs that were posted from his store, but he and his staff were quick to replace them with new ones. Despite the controversy that the anti-politically correct signs may have caused, the restaurants owned by Jeff Anon continue to do very well. He currently owns five Berryhill restaurants in the Houston area and he states that the other franchises have also been doing well. In the end, he still holds strong to the belief that political correctness has just done too far with the success that his restaurants have continued to have since he made his statement, it looks like a lot of people in the Houston area agree with what he has to say.
