Chipotle delivered a controversy-stoking double whammy for the right wing this month by running a new ad supporting LGBT equality and taking a stance against customers carrying firearms in its restaurants, reports The New Civil Rights Movement.
Following an outrageous stunt pulled by members of the pro-gun Texas group Open Carry Tarrant County – who walked into a Dallas-area Chipotle and frightened customers earlier this month as they posed for Facebook photos in the restaurant’s dining room with semiautomatic handguns – the fast-food chain issued a statement requesting that customers refrain from bringing guns into its restaurants.
“Recently participants from an ‘open carry’ demonstration in Texas brought guns (including military-style assault rifles) into one of our restaurants, causing many of our customers anxiety and discomfort,” Chipotle officials wrote in the statement. “Because of this, we are respectfully asking that customers not bring guns into our restaurants, unless they are authorized law enforcement personnel.”
Gun rights activists immediately took to Twitter, calling for a boycott of the restaurant chain.
However, Chipotle’s courting of controversy with the right didn’t end there. The company released a new ad supporting LGBT equality (pictured above) that is bound to ignite a One Million Moms hissy fit any moment.
As The New Civil Rights Movement points out, Chipotle’s move to support LGBT rights in its marketing efforts is a bold one, as the company does not have the financial strength of a top 10 fast-food chain. It had $327 million in sales last year from approximately 1,600 locations and is still growing.
