Penzey Wisconsin Primary Email

Bill Penzey continues to attack potential customers of his spice business.

Apparently, he thinks it's smart to bend over backwards to limit his clientele.

Here's an email Penzey sent to customers on August 9, with the subject line, "Cooks Vote!":

(This is an email we are sending out in our home state of Wisconsin for our upcoming Tuesday primary election. Our plan is to do something like this on a national level come October. The offer is good for all.)

All of us who grew up in the state of Wisconsin grew up in a place we could be proud of. A strong economy based on quality public education, a university system that rivaled the nation’s best, a pro environmental voice heard around the country and around the world. And behind all this was the intentional kindness and caring of our state’s people. The Wisconsin of our youth was a gift given to us by all those who came before that we were obliged to pass on to all those who came after.

Then came the 2010 election. The Republican Party chose Wisconsin to be the test ground for all that unlimited political spending could do. The very same forces that paved the way for what happened nationally in 2016 first tested it all out here. Before the President grabbed the reins, it was our Governor testing out the attack on education, selling out the environment, and even testing the staged racism towards Native Americans. We must address what is happening in the White House, but just removing the tip of the iceberg changes pretty much nothing. For real change we must also address the source, and that’s up to us, the Wisconsin voters.

Penzeys is a Wisconsin business and a national business, too. As a 23-year-old, just starting Penzeys, I thought it would have been easier if my grandparents had chosen a city a little more in the spotlight. Today, I’m convinced if we had been planted anywhere else, finding our way to the business we’ve become would have only been harder. Human kindness really is universal, but growing up in my parents' Spice Store on 33rd & Galena, through our customers I was given the chance to witness a kindness that was also intentional. Through them I learned, when you take the time to care about others the world becomes a better place. That’s a very Milwaukee and very Wisconsin idea.

The fact is Wisconsin wasn’t randomly chosen out of a hat as the test ground for what unlimited political spending could do. We were chosen because of our history. Wisconsin created the Republican Party as a force against slavery. Milwaukee has long embraced compassionate capitalism. If unlimited media buys and the anger of the right wing echo machine could unravel a century of Wisconsin support for education and the environment here, it could be repeated everywhere. So they set off to vilify teachers and turn suburban voters against public education for a $23 property tax cut. Then they went after our state's proud history of environmental protection for nothing more than their own campaign contributions.

At first our desire to see goodness in everyone had us thinking this was just a brand-new governor in over his head. But as time went on and this all only escalated, we saw how incredibly organized the money behind all this was. In time we came to realize there was no goodness here at all, only the strip-mining of the public good to give more to those who were already the wealthiest of the wealthy. There was the thought in 2016 that our now President, with his lack of conscience and willingness to sell out all that is good for his own advancement, somehow surprised the Republican Party. We here in Wisconsin have learned the hard way these are the very leadership values they’ve built their new party model around.

January 21, 2017, the day after the inauguration, the day of the first Woman’s March, many nationally were pleasantly surprised that a Wisconsin Spice business had a symbol that so closely embraced the feelings that had them marching in our Kind Heart pin and in the words: “Kindness can’t sit down simply because anger has stood up.” Testing grounds work both ways. While Wisconsin was the trial run for what the Republicans have now become nationally, we were pushing back against their efforts.

Time and again we found when they go after education, minority rights, the environment, healthcare for those in need, or even now in their taking of children from parents legally seeking asylum, what they are really trying to do is erode our common decency and our shared humanity. For them to win they need us to stop caring. In studying their blueprints, what we’ve found is that their Death Star has no defense against human compassion. Our kindness is our strength. Please use this knowledge any way you can.

This Tuesday in Wisconsin, it’s this message of kindness we must share and continue to share across the nation through November 6 and onward to November 3, 2020. In Wisconsin, it is time for someone with the strength and courage to stand up to outside money no matter the size of the check to be voted the opportunity to govern. Thankfully there are many with this strength and courage on Tuesday’s ballot. If you are in Wisconsin and would like to know more about how and where to vote, please click here.

And Spices, too! It is our values that make us the business we are. It is our humanity that pushes us to reach out and connect and come back with the goodness this world has to offer. Those efforts have just now once again paid off with our brand new Granulated Shallots. I could spend another 900 words on why you should get them, but it would be a lot easier on both of us if you would just trust me and get a half cup $5.95 jar free with $5 purchase. Great for the harvest vegetables of the moment, but honestly there’s not a meat or fish that would not taste better with a few shakes. Start using the Shallots wherever you would use Garlic and see where you end up. A great replacement for Salt, too. Really Good Stuff.

$7.95 Kind Heart Pins, and through Sunday $6.95 value Cinnamon Sugar. Both are free with the same $5 in spending that qualifies you for the free Shallots. And $5.29 Smokey Garlicky Mitchell Street Seasoning, and the $3.95 great flavored reminder Aleppo Pepper, both just $2 each.

No coupon or code is needed for the great price on the Mitchell Street or Aleppo Pepper. Those prices are automatic for all. To get your $5.95 Shallots, $6.95 Cinnamon Sugar and $7.95 Kind Heart Pin, all free with just one $5 purchase in one of our stores just bring in this email, or the coupons above and below and spend $5.

Online at penzeys.com simply spend $5 and then enter 94046C into the apply code box at check out for the Kind Heart Pin, 49155C for the new Shallots and 11855C for the Cinnamon Sugar. No need to place any of these in your basket, the codes will do that for you for free. Shipping and handling will apply, but regular shipping is always free with $30 spending.

Unless I’m missing something, if you are trying to maximize your budget, your best play is to get one $2 Aleppo and two $2 Mitchell Streets to cover your $5 minimum giving you $35.38 worth of Spices and Kindness for just $6. Please share this with those you know who might enjoy a good deal.

Finally, if you are outside of Wisconsin but know of someone who lives here, it would make a difference for you to share this email as an encouragement to vote. From a practical standpoint, getting someone to vote this Tuesday who might otherwise have not almost guarantees their voting November 6. But beyond practical, on a human kindness level getting the chance to vote for an honest to goodness groundbreaking Wisconsin Hero like Tammy Baldwin, even though in the primary she is running unopposed, is just Pure Joy. Don’t ever miss chances for Pure Joy!

Thanks for being the kind of people that showed me the value in caring for others.


You are my heroes,

Bill

bill@penzeys.com

Oh, please.

Tammy Baldwin is not "an honest to goodness groundbreaking Wisconsin Hero."

That's just nauseating.

Penzey should accept that cooks vote for conservative candidates, too.

Why be so divisive and mean in his sales approach?

Here's a portion of his email sent on August 11:

A history of cooking day after day is proof of an honest commitment to empathy and compassion. Those really are the two values most missing in our President and Governor. On the campaign trail anyone can say anything, but I believe the proof is literally in the pudding. Or in this case, the Arizona Dreaming Avocado Toast. Not to say the others in the primary are not also Cooks, and we all need to agree, whoever wins the primary is very much the best candidate for all of us. That said, there’s a lot to also be said for a candidate that is both qualified and shares your values.

If you are in Wisconsin, please drag everyone around you to vote this Tuesday. If you aren’t in Wisconsin, but know of someone here, please encourage them to vote this Tuesday by forwarding them this email, or hopping on our Facebook page and sharing the post of this email. Thanks!

And if someone asks you why they should vote when this is only a primary, remind them of Tammy Baldwin. Not a lot of bright spots lately in Wisconsin politics. But still, even though she’s running unopposed in the primary, getting the chance to vote for an honest-to-goodness American hero like Senator Baldwin is a treat for us that those in the other 49 states can only imagine. Don’t miss out on the opportunity to feel good about yourself for doing what is right.


Thanks for caring enough to cook and caring enough to vote!


Bill

bill@penzeys.com

Penzey clearly has decided to limit his business by appealing to the hate Leftists have for Trump, Scott Walker, and the Republican candidates challenging Tammy Baldwin. He thinks he can make more money by trashing many good people.

That's messed up.

There's nothing kind about that, nothing healing.