A Dairy Queen owner in Wisconsin is defending his decision to put an anti-political correctness sign in his store window after an out-of-state customer complained that the sign was “extremely offensive.”
In a now-deleted Facebook post, an individual named Ashley Coleman posted on the official Dairy Queen Facebook page that she found a sign posted outside the Kewaskum Dairy Queen location “extremely offensive” and demanded the corporate office speak to the owner.
The offensive text in question claims, “This Restaurant is Politically Incorrect,” adding the store says things like “Merry Christmas,” “Happy Easter,” and “God Bless America.” It also says veterans will receive free ice cream on Veterans Day:
Owner Kevin Scheunemann told CBS 58 the sign was put outside the store approximately four years ago after a customer complained about hearing Christmas music inside.
“I felt the sign was appropriate to hang in terms of just being transparent about the types of expression that the owner, and/or the staff, may do in terms of supporting God and country,” Scheunemann said.
“It just seems that those kinds of values and principles, for some reason, are becoming controversial in our society,” he explained.
Scheunemann said he would make accommodations for anyone who is offended by his sign and he is happy to sit down with them.
According to CBS 58, the story hit headlines after over 4,500 people "liked" Coleman’s post about the sign and almost 780 people shared it.
Local residents, however, say they’re fine with the sign.
Liz Torrison told CBS 58, “In this small community, I don't think it's a problem. We're all just liking each other and having fun."
Dairy Queen sent CBS 58 a statement about the sign, saying it does not speak for ADQ Corporation “or any of our other independent franchise owners.”
“American Dairy Queen Corporation does not encourage our independently owned and operated franchisees to post non-business related messages in their locations or on their external reader boards. This sign expresses the views of this independent owner only and does not speak for ADQ Corporation or any of our other independent franchise owners. We expect our franchisees and employees to treat every person who walks through our doors with the utmost dignity and respect. Nothing less is acceptable.”
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