Goya Boycott Backfires as Conservatives Flock To Support the Hispanic Company
The moment that Goya Foods CEO Robert Unanue appeared in the White House Rose Garden for an event featuring Hispanic leaders, I knew it would be a matter of minutes before they came for adobo.
“We’re all truly blessed at the same time to have a leader like President Trump, who is a builder,” Unanue said at the event.
“We have an incredible builder. And we pray,” he added. “We pray for our leadership, our president, and we pray for our country — that we will continue to prosper and to grow.”
Well, that can’t stand. And how quickly the multifarious slings and arrows of the liberal establishment were arrayed against him, as The Washington Post reported:
Within hours, the media was teeming with stories about the boycott, who was boycotting, and how betrayed they all felt that the CEO of the largest Hispanic-owned food business in the United States had appeared next to the Orange Man.
No more beans. No more sazón. It’s all canceled now:
Oh look, it’s the sound of me Googling “how to make your own Adobo” https://t.co/YOScAcyAnC
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) July 10, 2020
We learned to bake bread in this pandemic, we can learn to make our own adobo con pimienta. Bye. https://t.co/qKHNYfkqCq
— Lin-Manuel Miranda (@Lin_Manuel) July 10, 2020
.@GoyaFoods has been a staple of so many Latino households for generations.
Now their CEO, Bob Unanue, is praising a president who villainizes and maliciously attacks Latinos for political gain. Americans should think twice before buying their products. #Goyaway https://t.co/lZDQlK6TcU
— Julián Castro (@JulianCastro) July 9, 2020
For a minute, it seemed like all the major political and cultural figures on the left were having their assistants look up how to make adobo. And, in the ultimate moment of tone-deaf virtue signaling, here’s prominent Democrat fundraiser Jon Cooper tossing his Goya products in the trash:
My husband @RobertCooper58 is Cuban and he’s been cooking with @GoyaFoods for as long as I can remember — but no more. We just cleaned out our pantry closet and threw out EVERY one of their products. Adios, Goya!! #BoycottGoya pic.twitter.com/YOGENCs2OM
— Jon Cooper ?? (@joncoopertweets) July 10, 2020
You showed them, Jon. It’s not like we’re in the midst of a massive economic panic that has left people lining up at food banks in record numbers or anything.
#Goyaway was one of the trending hashtags on Twitter, which made me sad there wasn’t a #Brexit snowclone for Goya. #Adoboxit, perhaps?
For every political reaction, however, there’s an equal and opposite reaction.
Go out today and buy your Goya foodshttps://t.co/O9undwBG8i
— Mark R. Levin (@marklevinshow) July 11, 2020
Radio host Mark Levin and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee were just two of the blue checkmarks in the conservative Twitter universe who urged their followers to cancel Goya’s cancellation by buying some of the company’s products.
According to Fox Business, radio host Mike Opelka was the originator of the “buy-cott.”
“My brother came up with a terrific idea and I am encouraging all to join me in purchasing $10 worth of Goya Foods products and donating them to your local food bank,” he tweeted Friday. “Let’s push a BUY-cott, not a boycott. Let’s show the #Goyaway people what compassion can do.”
My brother came up with a terrific idea and I am encouraging all to join me in purchasing $10 worth of @GoyaFoods products and donating them to your local food bank. Let’s push a BUY-cott, not a boycott. Let’s show the #Goyaway people what compassion can do. https://t.co/SoHXRXHADG
— Mike Opelka (@stuntbrain) July 10, 2020
Conservative Twitter responded:
Time to stock my pantry with @GoyaFoods!!!
— Abby Johnson (@AbbyJohnson) July 10, 2020
I have never tried @GoyaFoods before. It will now be he first brand I go to. Appreciate the recipes on their site ?? https://t.co/vP10tl7zuU #BuyGoya https://t.co/qLRHzBXFqh
— Tammy Bruce (@HeyTammyBruce) July 12, 2020
FIGHT THE CANCEL CULTURE! I’m buying every can of Goya food I can find this weekend. “Goya CEO praises Trump at White House, backlash is swift” https://t.co/NFlTMsBAjh via @ABC7NY
— Laura Ingraham (@IngrahamAngle) July 10, 2020
Two Fox News figures — Laura Ingraham and Tammy Bruce — encouraged followers to go out and buy some Goya. So did Abby Johnson, the former Planned Parenthood director whose journey to pro-life activist was the subject of the movie “Unplanned.”
Florida GOP Sen. Marco Rubio also included a jab at the boycotters:
Most of these people fronting about a #GOYABOYCOTT either don’t use @GoyaFoods anyways
And most of the ones who do will cave by #NocheBuena pic.twitter.com/lKydzqpXuA
— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) July 11, 2020
“Most of these people fronting about a #GOYABOYCOTT either don’t use Goya Foods anyways [a]nd most of the ones who do will cave by #NocheBuena,” Rubio tweeted Saturday, using the Spanish word for Christmas Eve.
In fact, the only thing that seems to be keeping the story going is the fact that the CEO seems to be sticking to his guns and refusing to apologize; in an appearance on Fox News, Unanue called the boycott “a reflection of a division that exists today in our country” that’s “killing our nation.”
But, hey — if it makes you feel good to cancel a corporation founded by a Spanish immigrant in 1936 because the company’s CEO was willing to appear at a White House event, go for it.
Just know there are plenty of people on the other side willing to buy whatever you won’t.
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