According to Facebook, the search term “black olives matter” has 11,854 people talking about the matter. The #BlackOlivesMatter hashtag is also a popular search term, with 95,613 people talking about the label. There are actually political organizations on Facebook, too, called “Black Olives Matter” (with 94 likes thus far) and a public group called “Black Olives Matter!” with 50 members and counting.
The melee stems from the gluten-free restaurant in Albuquerque, New Mexico, named Paisano’s. The eatery has begun selling “Black Olives Matter” T-shirts, causing a firestorm on social media.
As reported by Twitter, the Black Olives Matter hashtag is a trending matter on their social media platform as well, with at least 4,299 tweets coming in about the hashtag.
Paisano’s Facebook page posted an advert on August 5, which let people know how to get their “Black Olives Matter” merchandise, including the shirts. They bragged that hats are also available.
“T-shirts now available at Paisanos. 20$. Hats and Shirts available at paisanosabq.com coming soon!”
The “Black Olives Matter” material has inspired some folks to make jokes about black olives in comparison to the “Black Lives Matter” movement on social media, while others are outraged that the “Black Lives Matter” movement is being trivialized by making the black olives comparisons — or turning it into a joking matter.
The Italian restaurant appears to be making light of the “Black Lives Matter” movement, according to some who view the “Black Olives Matter” merchandise as anything but funny. According to the New York Post, the owner of the restaurant is Rick Camuglia — a guy who decided to promote his eatery with a “Black Olives Matter” sign outside the restaurant in order to promote his new dish: tuna with black olive tapenade.
When the black olive dish was posted to Facebook, along with his “Black Olives Matter” sign, it drew a bunch of backlash from those who called Camuglia not sensitive to the “Black Lives Matter” movement.
According to KOAT, Camuglia can be seen talking about his soaring business in the wake of the “Black Olives Matter” controversy. Rick said he got calls from all over the world after his “Black Olives Matter” sign went inexplicably viral, with folks asking Camuglia for souvenirs to support the “Black Olives Matter” slogan.
“It’s gone so viral. We’ve gotten calls from Australia, Spain, France, you name it. People have filled the restaurant and told us to leave up the sign. That’s great, you know, because a lot of people make a living off working for this restaurant.”
[Image via iStockPhoto]Meanwhile, the “Black Olives Matter” slogan is not winning fans in all arenas of the world. A sampling of some of the controversy that has erupted from seemingly comparing black lives to black olives can be seen from the comments being made on social media about the matter, as published below.
“So apparently ‘Black Olives Matter’ is trending. I do not know if I should be offended or laugh. So I’ll just offended-ly laugh.”
“Black Olives Matter or All Olives Matter?”
“Nothing for Green Olives?”
[Image via iStockPhoto]“Olives matter: Except for the stuffed green ones those need to be stopped.”
“People are gonna see Black Olives Matter anytime Black Lives Matter is on TV now.”
“Actually, I kinda hate Black Olives, especially on pizza. Am I a bad person? Black Olives Matter.””White racists are loving this Black Olives Matter s***.”
“The sheer stupidity of the Black Olives Matter brouhaha makes me long for the days when social media didn’t exist. Can we go back please?!”
[Image via iStockPhoto]
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