Goya is trending on Twitter after the company named Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez their “Employee of the Month” since she tweeted out agreeing to boycott Goya Foods for supporting President Trump. The President and CEO said that her tweets about boycotting helped their sales increase.
https://twitter.com/MichaelBerrySho/status/1336022785739644934?s=20
Employee of the Month
Bob Unanue appeared on “The Michael Berry Show” and stated that they actually named AOC their Employee of the Month because of her boycott. “We still have to chat with AOC; I love her,” he explained in the interview. Unanue said she helped increase sales by 1,000%.
“She was actually our Employee of the Month; I don’t know if you know about this, but when she boycotted us, our sales actually increased 1,000%. So we gave her an honorary—we never were able to hand it to her but she got Employee of the Month for bringing attention to Goya and our adobo. Actually, our sales of adobo did very well after she said ‘Make your own Adobo.’
After the company received backlash for supporting Trump, Goya Foods was added to the list of things that randomly became a political statement. President Trump supported the company in a tweet saying, “I LOVE @GoyaFoods!”
A photo of Trump with Goya beans made its way across social media along with Ivanka Trump also posing with Goya beans. Some even called Trump out for the post because it violated a rule that prohibits executive branch employees from using their position for endorsing any product.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez tweeted in Spanish poking fun at Goya’s slogan stating, “If it’s Trump, it has to be corrupt.”
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Boycott of Goya Foods
The controversy started back in July after President and CEO Robert Unanue spoke at a White House event. He stated, “We’re all truly blessed at the same time to have a leader like President Trump, who is a builder.”
After that, former presidential candidate and HUD Secretary Julian Castro called for a boycott of the products in a tweet. He tweeted out stating that Goya has been a staple for many Latino households and now their CEO is praising President Trump.
.@GoyaFoods has been a staple of so many Latino households for generations.
Now their CEO, Bob Unanue, is praising a president who villainizes and maliciously attacks Latinos for political gain. Americans should think twice before buying their products. #Goyaway https://t.co/lZDQlK6TcU
— Julián Castro (@JulianCastro) July 9, 2020
Author Igor Volsky suggested after seeing Bob Unanue with Trump that people should make their shopping decisions accordingly. This was obviously hinting towards the boycott as well. AOC retweeted Volsky’s tweet adding that she was immediately looking up how to make her own Adobo from home. She then went on to share her finding of the Adobo recipe a few hours later.
Responses To AOC’s Tweet
After seeing Bob Unanue at the White House supporting Trump, many people tweeted out their disappointment with the company. This person said they wouldn’t buy Goya products ever again.
Bye Bye @GoyaFoods We will never ever spend another dollar on your products ever again in this household. Hope you take a deep plunge into the abyss and join the trump family once we flush them down the drain pic.twitter.com/IaHsBP1526
— S DOT (@sdb0502) July 10, 2020
This user joking that they are going to add Goya Foods to the list.
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Goya foods… I’ll add them to the List pic.twitter.com/c5adezTWpQ
— GraphicalRonin b s k y social ???? PAX U (@JJSynn) July 10, 2020
But following that tweet, she was heavily criticized for telling people she was longer going to buy their products. This user replied that she would be putting Hispanics out of jobs for boycotting them. This comment was stated multiple times in response to hers.
https://twitter.com/History27361891/status/1281604738409091073?s=20
Another user pointed out that she can’t respect out people’s opinions.
You want your right to an opinion respected but you can't respect anyone elses. Apparently you loved the product until they had an opinion different than yours. The product didn't change – It's still great – but sadly your concern for the people changes if they disagree with you.
— Shannon Sneed ????✝️???????????????? (@luckylandtimes) July 10, 2020
Employee of the Month Reactions
After Goya Foods named AOC Employee of the Month, Twitter went crazy for the news. Conservatives found it to be hilarious and decided to troll AOC’s tweets about Goya’s products.
Author and conservative pundit Candace Owens congratulated AOC for the award. Candance Owens taking some heat for the tweet not too long after the backlash she received for her comments on Harry Styles Vogue shoot.
Congratulations to @AOC for winning employee of the month at Goya!
???????????????????? https://t.co/pywbbs6iSt
— Candace Owens (@RealCandaceO) December 7, 2020
This user questioning whether or not AOC actually increased sales. A question that many people pointed out in response to Bob Unanue.
serious question: did AOC *actually* lead a boycott of goya foods? or did she just make a twitter joke about adobo recipes, and people in the media called that a boycott? pic.twitter.com/G0VTKUKoHd
— Bobby Lewis (@revrrlewis) December 8, 2020
Some users on Twitter broke down some factors that could have led to an increase in Goya Foods sales. One opined that the spike in sales couldn’t easily just been the support of President Trump. The person added, “Trump supporters will pretty much do anything he asks so they’re buying that sh*t and don’t even know how to use it”
https://twitter.com/Tracy_Laine1/status/1336109026900287490?s=20
Another pointed out the amount of donating that Goya Foods does. Chiming in the same thought that was echoed a few times.
I just went to the @GoyaFoods page to follow them. The amount of food donating they do is staggering. Hard to believe some people want to cancel them just because they don't share their hatred for the President with them.
— Dan Lewis (@ThePoolDan) December 8, 2020
Bob Unanue added in his interview that he found it be very interesting to see Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez calling for a boycott of Goya products. He said to boycott Goya is to “go against her own people…to go against people of her own Latin culture.”
“To some extent, I can understand AOC. She’s young, she’s naive, she doesn’t get it. But you’ve got someone like Senator Bernie Sanders, who’s older than us…other than me, who still doesn’t get it,” he said.
There were many people throughout social media that agreed with him. However, many also argued that supporting President Trump goes against the Latin community after the numerous times his actions have shown his lack of respect for the Latin community by pushing to build a wall or the treatment of ICE detainees.
AOC hasn’t responded to Bob Unanue’s recent comments about the Employee of the Month.
