The Pinkberry Juicer Wars

Some New York Pinkberry customers are up in arms over the Alessi Mandarin Juicer, a little knickknack that some locations carry. The Drop the Juicer! Campaign describes the item as "essentially three-dimensional caricatures of Chinese 'coolies' or laborers who emigrated to the United States well over a century ago." The juicer is demeaning to Asians, they say, and the Korean-American owners shouldn't showcase it. The whole issue caused such an uproar, Pinkberry issued an official response: "We started removing them awhile ago. They were part of an eclectic collection and we in no way ever intended to offend anyone by displaying them." Except here in LA's Koreatown---we just called and the swirler said he has plenty. Funny that the chain opened its first store years ago and no one has ever complained about the Alessi line. That Pinkberry wasn't officially yogurt until recently, that it's not particularly "all natural," is often served hollow and has a funky aftertaste, yes. But nothing about the juicers.
· Pinkberry Offends Customers With Mandarin Juicer [~ELA~]
· RackedWire: Pinkberry Apologizes [~ELA~]
· Pinkberry Finally and Officially Frozen Yogurt [~ELA~]
· "All Natural" Pinkberry Explained [~ELA~]