Submitted by Darren Smith, Weekend Contributor
Restaurant chain Lunchbox Laboratory caused a bit of a stir when it presented its annual 4/20 sale offering a thirteen dollar Burger of the Gods in a “Buy one get one free” special. 4/20 is celebrated in the cannabis subculture as a national holiday of sorts and the numbers refer to California Senate Bill 420 which authorized medical marijuana in that state. Events during this day are celebrated in many areas of the United States.
For the year 2014, April 20th coincides with Easter. In a melding of the two holidays Lunchbox Laboratory sought a new way to generate business.
The restaurant e-Mailed the advertisement to 13,000 subscribers with the add featuring a burger toting, joint toking Jesus who laments: “When I Get Back, All I Want is the Burger of the Gods.”
“I wanted you to look at Jesus smoking a blunt, eating a hamburger and say, ‘Hey, I’m going to tell my friend,’” restaurant owner John Schmidt told Q13FOX.com in Seattle. “The chatter is much more than I anticipated. I’m simply trying to sell burgers.”
Schmidt argues he is a “family man” and practicing Christian who was just looking for a way to help his small business pay its bills.
“I’m not your moral compass,” he told Q13FOX.com. “We’re just trying to sell sandwiches. If you’re looking to me for moral direction, you’re probably misguided.”
The resulting free advertising was bolstered by Seattle’s KIRO Radio talk show host Dori Monson who declared “He will never go back to Lunchbox Laboratory after the pot smoking Jesus ad.” He added the following additional insight to the debate:
What this shows is not just a contempt for Christians and Christianity – and they’re free to do that, they’re a private business in a free society. They can have contempt for Christians and Christianity if they want. But to me what this shows more than anything is something that I talk about all the time, and that is this phony, hipster culture in Seattle, because there is nothing particularly edgy about attacking the center point and the center day of Christianity, there’s nothing edgy about that.
I don’t think it’s funny to show Jesus smoking a joint. I don’t think it’s cool. I don’t think it’s hip. It certainly isn’t edgy.
Some people are going to say hey you’re giving them exactly what they’re hoping for, you’re giving them free publicity. But I’ll tell you this is a place I’ve patronized in the past and I will never ever go back to Lunchbox Laboratory.
Again, free speech, I’m all for it, I’m not saying they shouldn’t be allowed to do this. If they don’t care about alienating whatever percentage of their customer base who are Christians, if they don’t care about that, go ahead and do it. But I will tell you it’s a place I’ve gone to that I will never ever go back to again.
It seems certain that Lunchbox Laboratory has lost a very important and valuable customer in Dori Monson. But, thanks to him his entire audience knows of a burger joint they might not have considered before. As for the flight of Christian customers Dori prophesized, one could wonder how many of the 13,000 fans will be deterred. Or, will they in thanks offer Bong Hits For Jesus?
By Darren Smith
Sources:
WSPA
Dori Monson
Lunchbox Laboratory
The views expressed in this posting are the author’s alone and not those of the blog, the host, or other weekend bloggers. As an open forum, weekend bloggers post independently without pre-approval or review. Content and any displays or art are solely their decision and responsibility.
nick
i’m not a secular-ist, an islam-ist, a christian-ist, i’m a don’t give a shite-ist. why would i mention muslims are pissy about pics of muhammed? i also didn’t mention that several protestants sects don’t show jesus on a cross, or that many christians are uncomfortable with catholic icons. why, because abrahamic religious beliefs wasn’t my point. my point was you being the self appointed arbiter of what others believe.
and truth (i love it when people call them self truth as if they alone posses it) go back and look at some of the hatred in the comments in postings on this blog about islam or any mid-east country.
my guess is you’re blind to that because it goes against what you want to believe
Dredd, no your message was understood.
I loves ya back Dredd. 😛
420 comes from the time of day when a group of students could meet after school.
Annie
Dredd,
That Jesus with the AR 15 offends me.
===================
I hope you are not offended at the messenger (moi).
I merely point out that there is no “christianity” in the sense that there are at a minimum of 450 denominations claiming to be the one true christianity.
Add to that those who actually are practicing Mithraism, the ancient clone that adds another 450 denominations, and all I can say is “Got Confusion?”.
Current “christianity” is utter and complete myth based upon amygdala induced interpretations of ancient writings.
We cannot agree on what our recent constitution says, so how do these Cheezus freaks get off claiming they understand writings 2,000 years older than the constitution?
Circus performers all.
Love ya Annie (and my true Jesus of course). 😉
I don’t have short term memory. I made several attempts to respond and they were all eaten. But Elaine came through in the clutch and retrieved them, for which I am very grateful.
Pastor John Hagee isn’t going to like this.
3 blood moons left to go.
Fenyman, That was a parody. And, atheists have killed hundreds of millions in the name of atheism. I give you Stalin, Mao and Pol Pot, to name a few.
Maybe Spinelli is trying to be inclusive of Muslims, that is very big of him. 🙄
@leejcaroll “…my legislator state senator Mensch (Pa.) wrote me that the pharma similar drugs are more then adequate.”
You need to direct Mensch to the statistics on deaths and side affects from prescription drugs. Deaths now exceed motor vehicle accident deaths in most states. Deaths from medical marijuana use are, well, ZERO.
You need to direct Mensch to the statistics on deaths and side affects from prescription drugs. Deaths now exceed motor vehicle accident deaths in most states. Deaths from medical marijuana use are, well, ZERO.
I will message that to him. Thanks.
fenyman, That was a parody! And atheists who kill in the name of Atheism I offer Stalin, Mao, Pol Pot, all the North Korean leaders. 100 million deaths should do. Now, organized religion also has much blood on it’s hands also, I’ve said that. I’m just not letting either side off free.
fenyman, That was a parody! And atheists who kill in the name of Atheism I offer Stalin, Mao, Pol Pot, all the North Korean leaders. 100 million deaths should do. Now, organized religion also has much blood on it’s hands also, I’ve said that.
Feynman, I offer Mao, Stalin, Pol Pot, all the North Korean leaders, and on a micro level, Ted Kaczynski. There are more, but maybe 100 million or so deaths should suffice to make my point. However, as I have said previously, I do not abide organized religion. More people have been killed in the name of The Lord, Allah, Yahweh, than have been saved. And “the death to all infidels” was a parody.
Feynman, I offer Mao, Stalin, Pol Pot, all the North Korean leaders, and on a micro level, Ted Kaczynski. There are more, but maybe 100 million or so deaths should suffice to make my point. However, as I have said previously, I do not abide organized religion. More people have been killed in the name of The Lord, Allah, Yahweh, than have been saved.
Death to all infidels? And that is civil?
Leejcaroll, as someone who gets Disability, do you think that there are many people who fake their disability? I think it’s not nearly as pervasive as some may try to make others think.
Annie asked: “Leejcaroll, as someone who gets Disability, do you think that there are many people who fake their disability? I think it’s not nearly as pervasive as some may try to make others think.”
For social security 65% of all first time applications are denied supposedly to weed out the scammers.
I do think there are folks who get it and then work under the table.
I recall years ago, many years ago, Senator Danforth was complaining about how ss was going to run out of money
I wrote him and said that those on disability should be having review of their disability every 3 years or so (I have not gotten a review in years and the few I did were letters asking me if I was still disabled, (He never bothered to reply)
My disability is not on the list so I might have a heck of a time with a reevaluation but I think it should be done to help clear the rolls of at least some who are now able to work and gaming the system.
I am an atheist. I am not threatened, angered, or concerned about others beliefs guiding the way they chose to live THEIR lives I am not at all upset if I hear someone say Merry Christmas, Happy Easter, or Blessed Yom Kippur. Live and let live.
So far as I know, there is no effort being made by atheists or those who describe themselves as being secular that attempts to pass laws that infringe on the way believers wish to live THEIR lives. So far as I know, there is no attempt by atheists or those who are secular to force women to have abortions, force women to take contraceptives, or force a religious institution to marry same sex couples. Conversely, I believe there are most vigorous efforts to deny women abortions, deny them contraceptives or certain contraceptives, deny women any reproductive healthcare by closing Planned Parenthood, deny loving couples to marry, and deny science. Those efforts could tend to make some people “rude”. Forgive us.
Just as I suppose you have forgiven those who kill doctors who provide abortions, those who bomb women’s healthcare clinics and those who rudely scream at women entering clinics that provide reproductive healthcare.
If you insist there is a war, the fighting, the violence, the deaths all seem to be coming from one side.
LEEJ, Thanks, but I can think of a person or two who would be more than happy to dime me out for giving pain advice w/ cannabis. They may have already! But, I have had a long relationship w/ you here regarding pain and I risk that to try and help you. It’s funny, I have lived w/ pain for decades, as have you. I would be in a lotta pain doing surveillance on people who claimed to be in pain and were playing softball, pulling engines out of cars, chain sawing trees, you name it I have tape of people doing it. Hell, there is a disability, work comp, etc. epidemic out there. I know many households where both people are “disabled” and they rock climb, ski, play sports, etc. They are the takers. And, they are unhappy people.
. I would be in a lotta pain doing surveillance on people who claimed to be in pain and were playing softball, pulling engines out of cars, chain sawing trees, you name it I have tape of people doing it. Hell, there is a disability, work comp, etc. epidemic out there. I know many households where both people are “disabled” and they rock climb, ski, play sports, etc. They are the takers. And, they are unhappy people.
Last night a TV show, 20/20 did a segment on disabled who were found to be, by private investigators/their own stupidity, to not be disabled at all (one was a woman on the Price is right, jumping and using her shoulder to spin a big wheel, the same shoulder from which she suffered such bad pain and disability she was receiving something like 3,000/mth from her workman’s comp (I believe it was that and not SD) I had a friend who was “disabled” by arthritis in her hand, she had worked for decades but now said she couldn’t, as did her docs, yet somehow she used the same hand to cut tiles from plates to sell as mosaic tiles on ebay making enough money to buy her husband a nice car. (Supposedly her husband made her a special tool to do this but nevertheless she was able to do all the work everyday of using her hands to check ebay and all her auctions and type the receipts and envelopes. And yet she would complain about those who took advantage of the system. Go figure.
Aas salaam alaikum brothers. You have been fasting all day during this holiest of time. The Prophet Muhammad wants you to replenish your strength to carry out our mission. Light up a most pleasant blunt before the evening feast. The Prophet abides. Oh, and DEATH TO ALL INFIDELS!
Once again, the worst offenders of the civility rules ignore their own incivilty. Is it civil to call other commenters untintelligentas have Spinelli and Truth? Do these offenders not realize that it may be seen as unintelligent to proclaim a conversation ‘civil’, directly after being uncivil? Is that intelligent? The obvious attempts to continuously direct the flow of the conversation is also not missed by other commenters. It’s become almost comical.
And, let me say, the dynamic and chemistry has been pretty good today. Some heated discussion on hot button issues but pretty civil.