The Internet Is Pissed Over This Restaurant’s ‘Black Olives Matter’ Merch (For Good Reason)

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An Italian restaurant in New Mexico — called Paisano’s — launched a merchandise line that has TONS of people on the internet more than a little irked. The merch line includes shirts and hats that boast the phrase, “Black Olives Matter” — apparently making fun of the national “Black Lives Matter” movement.

This whole story actually all started about a month ago, when the restaurant used the phrase “Black Olives Matter” on their advertising billboard:

The message got a pretty poor response, and the owner wasn’t exactly sure why:

“We use our reader board to promote our specials. We thought it was a cute, play on words to promote our special Ahi tuna tonight,” The owner told local news.

Despite the negative feedback, the restaurant also got some encouraging support from local patrons.

That support meant that even while they took down the initial sign, they still formed plans to launch a merchandise line with the same exact phrase:

Let’s take a quick look at their stuff:

There’s the hat,

And the shirt,

And another version of the shirt.

 

“It’s just something to do that’s kind of fun now, It’s a little bit different than selling pasta, Camuglia [the owner] said to a local ABC affiliate.

As you might expect, #BlackOlivesMatter has turned out to be a little problematic.

https://twitter.com/TheTamiJ/status/765573772749381634

https://twitter.com/Forrest_Greeene/status/765573412068597760

https://twitter.com/Forrest_Greeene/status/765573763073134592

The “anti-PC” circles of the internet have rejoiced at the #BlackOlivesMatter concept, making crude and distasteful remarks:

https://twitter.com/ZoobileeZoom/status/765575684404183040

https://twitter.com/Romonaga_/status/765573937052942336

Ultimately, I’m all for satire and thoughtful political humor — but #BlackOlivesMatter isn’t a satire. It’s just appropriating a major movement to make cash and get a few laughs. Black Lives Matter is working to try to end the killing of black men and women around America, and bring visibility to people who are often forgotten. We should be engaging that issue, not making jokes and money off of a movement that wants to stop people from dying.