AriZona Iced Tea Unfairly (but Predictably) Targeted in Boycott of All Things Arizona

With Arizona's new immigration law, SB 1070, causing certain groups to call for a boycott of all things Arizona, AriZona Beverages -- the company that makes AriZona Iced Tea -- is probably kicking itself right now for choosing Arizona as the state for which they named their company.Especially since the company is...

By James King

April 29, 2010

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With Arizona's new immigration law, SB 1070, causing certain groups to call for a boycott of all things Arizona, AriZona Beverages -- the company that makes AriZona Iced Tea -- is probably kicking itself right now for choosing Arizona as the state for which they named their company.

Especially since the company is based out of Long Island, New York, and has nothing to do with the state of Arizona.

Since SB 1070 was signed by Governor Jan Brewer last week, AriZona Iced Tea has been the unfortunate victim of name discrimination at the hands of those who think AriZona Iced Tea is a product of Arizona and that the bill is racist and discriminatory.

Since the bill was signed, AriZona Iced Tea has been referred to as "the drink of facists," and ridiculing the popular beverage has become so popular on Twitter that it's earned itself the distinction of "trending topic" on the site.

Mexican comedian George Lopez is even tweeting about the drink, which now -- by merely sharing a name with a state that has become so hated that people in other cities are protesting Arizona Diamondbacks baseball games -- has a racist conotation.

"Went to buy a AriZona Iced Tea - they asked me for my documentation. So I bought HORCHATA instead!" Lopez tweeted this morning.

We called the AriZona Beverage Company to see if they were considering a name change, and, apparently, the haters have been hatin' so hard that the company was forced to issue a statement distancing itself from the state of Arizona, which you can see -- in its entirety -- after the jump.

Here is the founder and chairman of AriZona Beverages, Don Vultaggio's, attempt to distance AriZona from Arizona:

To All Our Friends, Customers and Loyal Fans,

We have become aware of misinformation being circulated about AriZona Beverages and we would like to make sure statements about our company are correct. As many of you know, AriZona Beverages proudly traces its origins back to New York. In 1992, two hard working guys from Brooklyn with a dream created AriZona Iced Tea. Since then, and despite the wonderful success AriZona has enjoyed throughout the United States and internationally, we have remained loyal to our family run business based in New York. For the last 16 years our headquarters have remained on Long Island where we continue to sell and distribute AriZona Iced Teas and beverages.

We are very proud to be an American company with roots in New York and we look forward to continuing to provide you with the high quality and value driven products we've been making for the last 18 years.

So proud to be in Long Island that the Brooklyn stiffs named their company AriZona Beverages? Why not BrookLyn Beverages. Well, we know why not.

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