“Happily gentrifying the neighborhood since 2014.”

[pixy0stix]

www.denverpost.com/2017/11/22/ink-coffee-gentrification-joke-denver/

Summary: Coffee shop posts the below sign outside their store in a predominately black neighborhood.

With follow-up: www.denverpost.com/2017/11/23/ink-coffee-five-points-gentrification-controversy/

[iammalcolmx]

April fools? I don’t know what to say!

[bronxgirl]

WTF?? How could someone think this is a good idea?

[winecat]

Nov 23, 2017 23:24:14 GMT -5 bronxgirl said:

WTF?? How could someone think this is a good idea?

The advertising agency has 0 people of color on staff.  Apparently it's not their first as racist asshole move either.  Their response is on their FB page: www.facebook.com/CultivatorAds/

[turnipthebeet]

There is no excuse for this. I work in this industry and this is Day 1 shit. Sometimes ideas get shot down for the most far-fetched reasons, correlations that would be a real stretch, and I refuse to believe that nobody on staff understood what that word meant. Inexcusable.

[mrsukyankee]

Seriously people. When writing ads, just take one minute to think about how something might be offensive. I hope that the company loses business because of it.

[sugarglider]

Nov 23, 2017 23:37:48 GMT -5 winecat said:

Nov 23, 2017 23:24:14 GMT -5 bronxgirl said:

WTF?? How could someone think this is a good idea?

The advertising agency has 0 people of color on staff.  Apparently it's not their first as racist asshole move either.  Their response is on their FB page: www.facebook.com/CultivatorAds/

The coffee shop didn't have to run with it, either. It deserves any hit in business it gets in response.

[dirtyred]

I'm about the least creative person ever, and even *I* can come up with a better tag line than that.  How about "Happily perking up the neighborhood?"

What idiots think that putting up a sign that praises destroying low income neighborhoods/neighborhoods of color IN a neighborhood of was a good idea?

[tessalb]

WTF! That word doesn’t really have a positive connotation, so I have no words for this except blatantly racist and offensive. Just awful.

[georgeglass]

My mind is blown with how stupid people are. I hope both the coffee shop and the ad agency close.

[gibbinator]

I really don't know what to say. My mind is kind of blown by the stupidity.

I  actually looked up the definition and google makes it all seem like a good thing if you're an oblivious person:
"the process of renovating and improving a house or district so that it conforms to middle-class taste."

So, no one read between the lines of that definition or, you know, applied context.

The tag is pretty awesome though, excellent response.

[NewOrleans]

😖

[winecat]

Nov 24, 2017 6:33:28 GMT -5 sugarglider said:

Nov 23, 2017 23:37:48 GMT -5 winecat said:

The advertising agency has 0 people of color on staff.  Apparently it's not their first as racist asshole move either.  Their response is on their FB page: www.facebook.com/CultivatorAds/

The coffee shop didn't have to run with it, either. It deserves any hit in business it gets in response.

Absolutely!  I didn't intend my post to mean that the coffee shop shouldn't suffer consequences for their decision.  It was their responsibility as the client to make the final decision. 

From what I'm hearing, it's not the first time the ad agency has done something like this.  Their office is located across the street from the coffee shop.  Both companies knew full well what they were doing.  

[sugarglider]

Also, I'm pro-taco truck on every corner... but burritos seem like an odd menu item for a coffee shop.

[winecat]

Nov 24, 2017 10:15:37 GMT -5 sugarglider said:

Also, I'm pro-taco truck on every corner... but burritos seem like an odd menu item for a coffee shop.

Burritos are a fairly common item for coffee shops to sell here.  I didn't realize that it's unusual. lol  

[winecat]

I found the other asshole post that people are referring to in regards to the ad agency. They posted a picture of a crime scene with police on scene and said "Perks of a low rent neighborhood."

[winecat]

Nov 24, 2017 10:34:02 GMT -5 1234FIF! said:

The fact that no one has kicked that sign over and stomped it to shreds is a testimony to Jesus.

The sign is gone and the coffee shop was vandalized with graffiti and broken windows.  

[sugarglider]

Nov 24, 2017 10:32:17 GMT -5 winecat said:

Nov 24, 2017 10:15:37 GMT -5 sugarglider said:

Also, I'm pro-taco truck on every corner... but burritos seem like an odd menu item for a coffee shop.

Burritos are a fairly common item for coffee shops to sell here.  I didn't realize that it's unusual. lol  

Really? I love a good coffee shop, and I've never been to one (in the midwest, NY, or CA) that serves burritos.

[pixy0stix]

Nov 24, 2017 11:05:46 GMT -5 sugarglider said:

Nov 24, 2017 10:32:17 GMT -5 winecat said:

Burritos are a fairly common item for coffee shops to sell here.  I didn't realize that it's unusual. lol  

Really? I love a good coffee shop, and I've never been to one (in the midwest, NY, or CA) that serves burritos.

Wait. Coffee shops don't serve burritos? What sort of sad world is this?

[winecat]

Nov 24, 2017 11:05:46 GMT -5 sugarglider said:

Nov 24, 2017 10:32:17 GMT -5 winecat said:

Burritos are a fairly common item for coffee shops to sell here.  I didn't realize that it's unusual. lol  

Really? I love a good coffee shop, and I've never been to one (in the midwest, NY, or CA) that serves burritos.

The coffee shops aren't making the burritos.  They pretty much sell pre-made burritos from one of a handful of wholesale burrito places in town.  

[goldengirlz]

The owner’s longer apology references “listening and learning.” Well there you go.

Sadly, I think this points to deeper fissures happening in Denver. Skyrocketing home prices, an influx of new transplants, a city that’s more than three quarters white. This is a symptom of much deeper issues for the city.

[sugarglider]

Nov 24, 2017 11:17:59 GMT -5 pixy0stix said:

Nov 24, 2017 11:05:46 GMT -5 sugarglider said:

Really? I love a good coffee shop, and I've never been to one (in the midwest, NY, or CA) that serves burritos.

Wait. Coffee shops don't serve burritos? What sort of sad world is this?

...maybe breakfast burritos?

[meshaliuknits]

Nov 24, 2017 11:17:59 GMT -5 pixy0stix said:

Nov 24, 2017 11:05:46 GMT -5 sugarglider said:

Really? I love a good coffee shop, and I've never been to one (in the midwest, NY, or CA) that serves burritos.

Wait. Coffee shops don't serve burritos? What sort of sad world is this?

I can only think of one around here that does. And they never have any f'in chorizo to make it anyway.

[Jalapeñomel]

Holy shit and whatthefuck

[pelican82]

Nov 24, 2017 10:37:27 GMT -5 1234FIF! said:

Nov 24, 2017 10:35:40 GMT -5 winecat said:

The sign is gone and the coffee shop was vandalized with graffiti and broken windows.  

Oh my. Well I don't condone all of that 

I don't condone the vandalism either but the anger is justified...I just don't understand how anyone (the ad agency/the coffee shop owners) think this is ok? BLOWS MY MIND

[isabel]

I saw this on fb and cringed so hard. I hope this location goes out of business.

[VillainV]

This was on my local news today (we are about an hour away). I can only hope that all of this attention will serve to educate more businesses owners and ad agencies to keep this from happening again. But I don’t think I’ll hold my breath for that....

[mrspez07]

Nov 24, 2017 11:28:45 GMT -5 goldengirlz said:

The owner’s longer apology references “listening and learning.” Well there you go.

Sadly, I think this points to deeper fissures happening in Denver. Skyrocketing home prices, an influx of new transplants, a city that’s more than three quarters white. This is a symptom of much deeper issues for the city.

This is especially apparent when reading the comments on the follow up article, they are all over the place, including some racist opinions. Unfortunately none of them (good or bad) surprise me about the conversation happening in Denver.

ETA:
One of the more interesting comments noted that the City has encouraged this “improvement” to these neighborhoods by building government buildings/services, light rail connections, etc but then don’t specifically support existing residents and ultimately the improvements push out the long-time residents and established communities. How do you balance improvements to a neighborhood that may benefit the existing residents of that neighborhood (increased resources, access to more job and shopping opportunities with the popularity (and associated influx of people )that these improvements bring? Denver is having major growing pains in neighborhoods all over the city because of this popularity.

[sushi]

I used to like ink. Wtf to them.

[aurora]

I didn't know Joy Reid grew up in Denver. Her remarks on Ink: