Bill Penzey's Letter to America's CEOs

I only recently joined Penzeys Spices email list, not because I would ever buy the products but to read Bill Penzey's political screeds.

Every day, there's an email. Some make no mention of politics and actually are about the products. Others aren't about spices.

Yesterday evening, another crazed political Bill Penzey email arrived.

The message wasn't about spices, special offers or deals, none of the typical stuff I've come to expect from emails from stores. This message was an "Open letter to CEOs of America." That was the subject line.

Crazy?

Very.

Here's the text of the email:

Please forward this on to the business and community leaders in your life.

Please share this with the business and community leaders in your life. If you want to do this through Facebook you can find it here.



Dear CEO,

Please give us a moment to share something we hope you will find very valuable.

Our customers come from all walks of life. The kindness of cooks knows no borders or divides. In the aftermath of the election, seeing the intentional damage inflicted on so many outside the white heterosexual male world, we raised our voice. We felt we had to. We did this because we are Penzeys. The Spice business is so intertwined with history that it's not really possible to have one without the other. It became clear to us that we are now in a moment history will long have its eyes upon. For the sake of our customers, and for the sake of future generations, we felt the time had come to stand on the right side of history.

And while the reasons for why we took a stand might be specific to our unique outlook, what we learned actually applies to all commerce in the United States. What we learned is that President-elect Donald Trump has no real support. Voters, sure, but no constituency. Running a campaign on "that horrible-terrible-woman who should be locked up," while at the same time working to raise fear of minorities among white voters with limited access to education, clearly achieved its goal. But none of it left Americans with any sense of connection to the candidate they actually voted for.

Willing to take a hit for what is right, we did what we did. In the two weeks since, online sales are up 59.9%, gift box sales up 135%. And we didn't have a catalog arrive in this window this year, while last year we had 1.1 million! Yes, maybe for the moment we have lost 3% of our customers because of the so-called "right wing firestorm." And, yes, they send emails of rage, and ALL CAPS, and bad language with the hope of creating the perception that they are bigger than they really are. But what we learned is that, in terms of retail spending, Donald Trump simply has no one supporting his views for America. He has no constituency.

America's Values, on the other hand, have a really sizable constituency, and that constituency moves quickly to support those that stand up for the values of America. If, as a company, you have values, now is the time to share them. You may well lose a chunk of your AM radio-listening customers, but if you really are honest and sincere, don't be surprised to see your promotions suddenly, finally, find active engagement with the Millennial generation.

And the time for this really is now. We understand all too well that, with the holidays, December is a tough month to get things done. We understand that a change in direction will not be easy, but you are where you are because you don't need things to be easy. If you wait until after the wheels come off the track for the incoming administration, this moment will have passed. And while there's no bad time to do the right thing, to do the right thing at the same time as others in your industry will work so much better than waiting until someone else has shown the way.

In this moment there is finally the real chance to unite our nation in our shared rejection of sexism, homophobia, and racism. This is your chance to stand up for America's values and make January a tent pole in your company's history. Opportunities to do the right thing at the time when doing the right thing makes all the difference come once in a lifetime. Make your history proud.

Thanks for reading,

Penzeys Spices

Yikes!

Each communication is more bizarre and more out there than the last.

He's addressing CEOs?

Forward this to CEOs?

Penzey is delusional. I think he might be clinically delusional. It's really kind of creepy.

Yes, maybe for the moment we have lost 3% of our customers because of the so-called "right wing firestorm." And, yes, they send emails of rage, and ALL CAPS, and bad language with the hope of creating the perception that they are bigger than they really are. But what we learned is that, in terms of retail spending, Donald Trump simply has no one supporting his views for America. He has no constituency.

America's Values, on the other hand, have a really sizable constituency, and that constituency moves quickly to support those that stand up for the values of America. If, as a company, you have values, now is the time to share them. You may well lose a chunk of your AM radio-listening customers, but if you really are honest and sincere, don't be surprised to see your promotions suddenly, finally, find active engagement with the Millennial generation.

Nuts!

Penzey is really going out of his way to anger half the country. He's also trying to appeal to Millennials. That's the plan apparently. I guess he's trying to build a loyal clientele by closing the door on an enormous group of potential customers and brutally disparaging them.

I suppose that's OK if he wants to be a niche business-- selling spices to smug, youngish Leftists out of touch with reality.

That's not smart. It's bad business.

Penzey's shtick is getting old fast.