In what has made some customers cringe and others giggle, a Dallas-based pizza chain, Pizza Patrón, decided to name a new large, spicy pizza pie La Ching*** (Spanish expletive, some letters omitted here).
"We decided to name it La Ching*** since it has 90 slices of pepperoni, and there is jalapeño encrusted in the pepperoni, making it very "picoso," (spicy), said Pizza Patrón manager Edgar Padilla, in an interview with Telemundo's Channel 39 in Dallas.
The pizza chain was all ready to place radio ads for their new campaign with various stations, but CBS Radio and Univision said no, citing worries with the FCC over the word, despite the fact Pizza Patrón volunteered to bleep out the offending word.
Some, like Tarrant County Community College professor Carlos Rovelo, thought the use of the word was quite offensive.
"It's a derogatory term - it does not enrich the language," said Rovelo to Telemundo, adding that it is definitely not a family term.
Other Dallas Latinos thought it was funny. "It's a pizza I'd like to order," said a woman smiling, who repeated the term. Another man noted that worse things are said on television.
The chain has already made headlines for previous publicity campaigns - including accepting Mexican pesos and giving away a pie to anyone who said "Pizza, por favor." During those campaigns, sales went up, according to the chain, so Pizza Patrón is expecting the profanity-infused pie will probably boost sales, too. Judging by their use of the offending word on their Twitter feed, they aren't shying away from the large pie's name.
