culture
La Carnita Deletes Another Sexist Social Media Post, Apologizes
Popular taco joint invoked Donald Trump, and after a backlash, realized it was stupid.
Popular Toronto taco chain restaurant La Carnita apologized last night for a promotional Instagram post where they asked, “what if Trump grabbed her by the taco?”
La Carnita has since deleted the post that contained the reference to Donald Trump’s 2005 conversation with then-Access Hollywood host Billy Bush.
Patrons responded critically on social media, with several promising to boycott the restaurant in response.
Ughhh I was gonna just try and chill tonight but REALLY DUDES?? Wtf is WRONG WITH YOU? pic.twitter.com/XWJdhDVLr0
— Jen Agg (@TheBlackHoof) October 11, 2016
Disappointing. We got engaged @la_carnita — Many great staffers there don’t excuse indefensible social media misogyny & insufficient apology
— Corey Mintz (@coreymintz) October 12, 2016
Yup. Do better @la_carnita. Unacceptable. Won’t spend my money there. https://t.co/vGcf1QRlHZ
— Stephanie Belding (@stephbelding) October 11, 2016
La Carnita was founded in 2013, and has four locations throughout Toronto.
Despite the apology, the comment follows other questionable posts La Carnita has published on social media. Two years ago they referred to their female staff as “tacHOES.”
That post was also subsequently removed.
Then there was their washroom sign that featured an individual looking into another stall. This was also removed.
At Sweet Jesus, the ice cream restaurant also owned by the proprietors of La Carnita, they faced a controversy for the “El Chapo” cone, so named for the Mexican drug lord. Sweet Jesus also had a controversy when it made a patio in a public space.
La Carnita co-owner Andrew Richmond took to Facebook Wednesday afternoon, issuing a statement of his own acknowledging that they have a history of sexist posts on their social media. Richmond promised to donate a part of their sales to women-centred organizations that deal with violence against women.
However, donations don’t make up for a pattern of mistakes or lack of judgment that appears to afflict the chain.
