Once again providing a lesson that no publicity is bad publicity, the folks at the LunchBox Laboratory hamburger joint in Seattle have raised some eyebrows over their decision to feature Jesus smoking a joint in a new ad. In case you haven’t checked a calendar or randomly overheard two potheads talking, Easter Sunday just so happens to fall on 4/20 this year, and that obviously has marijuana enthusiasts and at least one restaurant approaching the, um, high holiday with a little extra sense of humor.
According to MyNorthwest.com, KIRO radio host Dori Monson had the LunchBox Laboratory’s owner, John Schmidt, on a recent show, and the two didn’t exactly see eye-to-eye about Schmidt’s “humor.” But for the restaurant’s owner, this was all about some free marketing.
“We knew we were pushing it a little bit but at the same time that is kind of what our marketing is about.”
“No one group is sacred,” he said. “Do you ever watch South Park where they parody everybody and every religion and pretty much anything?”
“We’re looking for people to be talking about our marketing,” said Schmidt. “You talking about us on the air is the grand slam, I can’t tell you how much I appreciate it. I honestly am not trying to offend you as a Christian.” (Via MyNorthwest.com)
Meanwhile, as upset as Monson was about the ad, he still took the – *winks* – high road and stated that his solution for how to treat this ad is pretty simple.
“It’s your free speech. I defend your right to send out this ad. I would never suggest that you should never be allowed to do something like that, but as a customer, my free speech exercise is I would choose to not go and patronize your place anymore because of that.”
A “practicing Catholic,” Schmidt ultimately admitted that he “maybe went too far,” but he has already reached the – wait for it – joint of no return. Okay, that pun sucked, but the other two were top notch.