Diversity // Current

Best Buy Black Friday Ad Includes Happy Eid al-Adha Message; Customers Complain

In Best Buy’s Black Friday ad, they included a Happy Eid al-Adha message to recognize the holiday that Muslims around the world will be celebrating this week. For Muslims, Eid is like Christmas and this year it happens to be in the same week as Black Friday and Thanksgiving. Surprisingly, it looks like this ad has caused disappointment among many Best Buy customers.

A topic on the Best Buy forums is full of 10 pages where customers are complaining about Best Buy wishing Muslims a happy Eid. As I was reading the topic I noticed that many people were saying that they will no longer shop at Best Buy, some were saying that Best Buy should have put something about Christmas, and some said that they were shocked. Due to the complaints by a lot of people, a Best Buy supervisor, Elizabeth had to post the following response:

Thanks for sharing your point of view regarding our recent ad, which included a wish for a “Happy Eid al-Adha”.

Best Buy’s customers and employees around the world represent a variety of faiths and denominations. We respect that diversity and choose to greet our customers and employees in ways that reflect their traditions.

We do use the word “holiday” in some of our advertising because it is meant to be inclusive to everyone. However, just as we have in the past, we will also reference specific holidays such as Christmas, Hanukkah and Kwanzaa in our weekly ads, store signage and other advertising vehicles.

We encourage our employees to interact with customers naturally and feel free to wish them a Merry Christmas if they are celebrating that holiday. Thanks again for your feedback.

~Elizabeth
Community Supervisor
Best Buy® Corporate

I really don’t see anything wrong with Best Buy adding a “Happy Eid Al-Adha” text in their ad. It just proves that Best Buy appreciates diversity. It is unfortunate that people are taking other meanings from this ad. What are your thoughts on this? I’d like to end this post with: Happy Eid to any of our readers who are celebrating Eid this week, and happy Thanksgiving to any of our readers who are celebrating Thanksgiving this week.

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So what do Current members think of this? Do you see a problem with Best Buy acknowleding a Muslim holiday? Or do you see a problem with people taking offense?In Best Buy’s Black Friday ad, they included a Happy Eid al-Adha message to... more

littleredmachine
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Race in America: 'Progressive' cities

The 'progressive' towns constantly listed as our best role models also lack racial diversity, finds Aaron Renn. Why has no one called them on it?

Among the media and academia and within planning circles, there's a generally standing answer to the question of what cities are the best, the most progressive and best role models for small and midsize cities. The standard list includes Portland, Seattle, Austin, Minneapolis and Denver.

In particular, Portland is held up as a paradigm, with its urban growth boundary, extensive transit system, excellent cycling culture and a pro-density policy. These cities are frequently contrasted with those of the Rust Belt and South, which are found wanting, often even by locals, as "cool" urban places.

But look closely at these exemplars, and a curious fact emerges. If you take away the dominant Tier One cities like New York, Chicago and Los Angeles – places no one expects the average U.S. city to be able to imitate – you will find that the "progressive" cities aren't red or blue, but another color entirely: white.

In fact, not one of these "progressive" cities even reaches the national average for percentage of African-Americans in its core county. Perhaps not progressiveness but whiteness is the defining characteristic of the group.

The progressive paragon of Portland is the whitest on the list, with an African-American population less than half the national average. It is America's ultimate White City. The contrast with other, supposedly less advanced cities is stark.

It is not just a regional thing, either. Even look just within the state of Texas, where Austin is held up as a bastion of right thinking urbanism next to sprawlvilles like Dallas-Fort Worth and Houston.

While Austin is far more diverse than a place like Portland, it is still much whiter than other major Texas cities, comparable only to Fort Worth. And while its African-American population lags the national average, Dallas-Fort Worth and Houston both exceed it.

This raises troubling questions about these cities.

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/opinion/points/stories/DN-renn_22edi.State.Edition1.1691580.html
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/b/bd/AustinTexasCongressView.jpgThe 'progressive' towns constantly listed as our best role models also lack racial... more