Milwaukee Spice Company Penzeys Learns Fighting Trump Is Good Business

MILWAUKEE, WI — Penzeys Spices CEO Bill Penzey Jr. is learning firsthand how blasting President Donald Trump is good for his bottom line. On July 6, Penzeys Spices gave away free Mexican Vanilla Extract (with free shipping) in honor of Trump's dubious comments made in reference to Mexican immigration and his continued desire to build a border wall between the U.S. and Mexico.

As Penzey learned, in just one day, he saw more orders placed than in the first 17 days of July last year combined. A 1,600 percent jump in sales caused such a stir, the company had to replenish its inventory levels just to keep up with the demand.

The dubious comments made by Trump came on July 6, 2015, when Trump is credited with saying "Likewise, tremendous infectious disease is pouring across the border," in reference to Mexican migrants entering the U.S.

"That form of intentional racism designed to stoke fear and anger among voters should have raised huge red flags as to why this was not a candidate fit for the highest office in the land. For reasons we have yet to get to the bottom of, those red flags were never raised, and for that we are sorry," Penzey wrote on his company's Facebook page this week.

As you can see by the two examples of tweets below, Penzey's politically themed campaign has drawn the support of those who don't like Trump and ire among his supporters.

Not the First Time Troubling Trump

Just after Trump was elected in November 2016, Penzey took aim at the new commander in chief online.

"The open embrace of racism by the Republican Party in this election is now unleashing a wave of ugliness unseen in this country for decades," Penzey wrote to company email subscribers in November. "The American people are taking notice."

His campaign "Cooking Trumps Racism" followed, offering a sizable deal on some of the company's spice boxes, just in time for Thanksgiving.

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