Bill Penzey spends way too much of his time thinking up new ways to further alienate potential customers.
In a Wednesday email, he called President Trump and Speaker of the House Paul Ryan "Nazis." He also trashed Republican voters.
Penzey writes:
This week marks the 75th anniversary of the release of the motion picture Casablanca. And as promised, in that we’ll always have Paris spirit, we are giving away $9.95 half-cup jars of our very popular Sunny Paris with any $5 purchase. If you already are a Sunny Paris fan, here's your chance to save money, and if not, you are in for a treat. With its blending of Shallots and French herbs, this is a blend without salt because it does not need it. For me, I see Sunny Paris as a go-to for fish, chicken, eggs, leafy greens and salads, but I know from customer comments, others see it as perfect for the most robust vegetables or slow roasted beef. Give it a try.
We also have a new Featured Spice and Seasoning to introduce. This time around it's our Penzeys Minced Garlic and our Regular Chili Powder. We have great Chili Powders and the Regular, rich in flavor but without the heat of our other Chili Powders, is the best place to start. Great for Chili, but also wonderful on pretty much anything you would serve with tortillas. And for our Penzeys Minced Garlic, we've dropped the 1/4 cup price all the way down to just $1 because you have to give this Garlic a try. Life is too short for any other Garlic. This Garlic will make you very-very happy. Trust me, this will be the best $1 Spice you ever buy.
And Casablanca at 75. Buy it. Watch it. Fall in love with all that motion pictures have the power to achieve. If you haven't seen Casablanca before, you are so lucky, because one of life’s great experiences still awaits you; it's that good. And if you've seen it before, it's time to see it again. Where once it was a telling of our past, history has turned full circle to the point where Casablanca is now ripped from today’s headlines. We've let totalitarian nationalism take hold of the Republican Party. To set it free will take a specialized set of skills. Casablanca has just those skills.
And I know some of you are thinking, old films, ugh. But what if I told you Casablanca is far more than one of a handful of films worthy of debate to wear the crown of best film ever? What if I told you that, hidden inside its stunningly-lit 1 hour and 43 black and white minutes is a map leading to the greatest treasure humankind has ever managed to assemble? Would you then watch it? You should, because it is. And (spoiler alert) the treasure it leads us to is the compassion at the heart of the American spirit.
At the core of Casablanca is love, just love. This is a film you can come back to through your life and each time find something new and valuable that before you missed. For me, viewing it against the backdrop of the events of the past year, for the first time I understood this notion of how Ilsa and Rick had lost Paris, but by chance bringing them together again they got Paris back. I always thought that they were speaking of Paris as a symbol of their love, but no, with all that had happened, they had given up on the dream that is Paris. In their chance reunion they were given their dream back.
Our language is lacking. For some things there is not the right word. But for lack of a better word, Paris was, to those who experienced it in the ‘30s, a sacred city, much like how, to those who experienced it before this time of unlimited corporate political spending, America is a sacred country. Both were about goodness and ideas and equality. To see places like these overrun by such brutality is just soul crushing and risks making it seem like the goodness was never there at all, that goodness itself is not real. Once people doubt goodness, bad things happen.
If there is anything positive about Nazis it's that nature does not produce many of them. There really are not that many Trumps and Ryans out there who, after a lifetime of having others do so much to help them, turn around and use the power they've been given to hurt those in need. The good news is, there are simply not enough of them to take and hold the world unless the world loses the will to resist. The bad news is that Nazis are pretty good at making the world give up hope. And here is where Casablanca shines brightest, because it knows that the cure for hopelessness is love.
I wish you all love, if even for a moment. On good days love is wonderful, but on the bad days love is everything. How Casablanca brings you into its love and makes you a part of it is close to magical. The acting, and the script, yes, but so much of how that love comes through is in the filming, lighting and staging. Those making Casablanca knew love is in the eyes and in embraces and in the way heads cradle between necks and shoulders. And I'm pretty sure we’re not supposed to take Sam at face value when he sings a sigh is just a sigh. I think with that sigh we are letting go of all that's overwhelming us, all that's holding us back from facing whatever the future brings.
And for me this brings it all back to cooking. As much as we know cooking and sharing food creates positive outcomes in life, we are still not entirely sure how. I'm more and more convinced it's the daily layering on of the love at the heart of cooking that gives us the strength to last that much longer before we give up or give in. In times, then and now, it's those with love in their lives that have the strength to resist. To see our community of Cooks so well represented in last weekend's record-breaking Women's Marches makes me hugely proud. We get to be what we are because we have people like you for customers. You are greatly appreciated.
Goodness is real and America is good. How much farther does this all have to sink before republican voters wake up from their trance and realize they are no longer republicans? Seriously, right after your third wife’s given birth to your child, cheating on her with a porn star? When the time comes, will anyone truly be “shocked, shocked to find” he’s cheated on America with Russia as well?
For those who believe in the treasure of America’s goodness, these are hard times. Rick at the start of Casablanca is broken, playing chess alone. He sticks his neck out for no one. But with Ilsa’s love, and with his love for her, he breaks free and once again rises up to be the American the world needs him to be. Many now are exhausted, many are close to giving up. Don't let them. Cook them meals full of the love that keeps us from breaking. Now is the time of Cooks.
To get your free $9.95 Sunny Paris in one of our Stores, just bring in this email or the coupon above and spend $5. Online at penzeys.com, simply enter 15453C into the apply code box while checking out after spending $5. No need to place the Paris in your basket, the code will do that for you. And no codes or coupons needed in stores or online for the good prices on the Chili or Garlic, those are automatic for everyone. And try that Minced Garlic, there aren't many better ways to spend a dollar.
Please find time to buy and watch Casablanca. It’s that good.
Bill
bill@penzeys.com
I wonder how many of Penzey's customers know how much rot he spews.
I can't imagine why any conservative or anyone who loves a conservative would consider doing business with this man.
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