Restaurant takes heat for ‘Black Olives Matter’ pun

An Italian restaurant in New Mexico has come under fire for a punny billboard playing off the Black Lives Matter slogan amid nationwide outcry over the recent fatal shootings of black men by police officers.

Paisano’s in Albuquerque posted “Black Olives Matter, Try Our Tapenade” on a marquee last week advertising one of its specials and reportedly posted a picture of the sign on social media. “We put up what we thought was a cute play on words, which we do commonly here at the restaurant,” Rick Camuglia, the owner, told NBC affiliate KOB. “We were trying to promote our pan-seared Ahi tuna with a black olive tapenade relish. And so we put ‘black olives matter, try our tapenade.’ ”

People on the restaurant’s Facebook page called it “offensive,” “tacky and hideous” and “in very bad taste.”

The restaurant has since taken down the sign and removed the photo of it from social media. Some Facebook users claim their comments have been taken down, too. One commenter said, “As a woman of colour I find your posting offensive and in very bad taste. You simply wish to rub salt in an ugly festering wound which evil-minded people re- fuse to allow to heal. The civilized world no longer has any tolerance for your hateful public display of what passes to you as humour.”

No one at the restaurant could be reached for comment Tuesday, but Camuglia, the owner, said he never expected such a firestorm.

“We didn’t think anybody would be offended by that,” he said. “It was not our intent to offend anybody.”

Many on social media, however, defended the owner’s advertisement.

“It’s OK to have a sense of humour,” one wrote. “As a chef I understand that you weren’t trying to be offensive. In our industry, humour is the only thing that takes the stress away from our job.”

The restaurant crew said Friday in a statement:

“Since Wednesday, July 13th, we have been inundated with positive, supportive phone calls from the community as well as overwhelmed with business, not only from our ‘regulars’, but from so many new customers who came from Albuquerque, surrounding cities and even neighbouring states simply to support us . . . I can’t count the number of customers’ orders who’ve included adding black olives to every dish ordered. Pizzas, Sandwiches and pasta dishes with ‘double black olives please!’ all day long.”