Hot Sauce In Your Bag? Texas Pete Is Being Sued By A Californian
Hey Temple, Killeen, and everywhere in between! Did you hear about this one? Texas Pete hot sauce is apparently NOT made in Texas, and get this - it got one California man so hot that he's taking them to court over it.
Texas Pete Hot Sauce Facing Spicy Lawsuit
According to WBNS-10, a man named Phillip White has filed a lawsuit accusing the makers of Texas Pete of false advertisement. White says had he known that Texas Pete was not made in Texas, he wouldn't have bought it. Then he takes it further by saying not only would he not have bought it, he probably wouldn't have paid as much for it had he known. Wow!
Texas Pete Turns Up The Heat
Although Texas Pete's hot sauce is manufactured in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, the company does indeed lay out the story of how Texas Pete was born. They disclose on their website that there is no direct relationship or link to the great state of Texas. Despite the reality that Phillip may have a point about there not being big, bright letters on the bottle that would let a customer know that Texas Pete is not in fact a Texan, come on Phillip - is that really being intentionally deceptive?
So Why Is It Called Texas Pete?
According to the Los Angeles Times and the Texas Pete website, the company's founder, Sam Garner, was struggling to come up with a name for the sauce in 1929. A marketing advisor recommended Mexican Joe, but Sam gave a resounding "nope!" because he wanted something that sounded solidly American. His son, Harold (who had the nickname "Pete" for some reason) pitched having Texas in the name, so they settled on Texas Pete.
Sound Off
What do you think? Does Brother White have a case being that the bottle of Texas Pete hot sauce does display Texas things? (For example, the mascot is a cowboy fully dressed with a lasso and all.) The logo itself also has the Lonestar on the front too! Did you know it isn't made in Texas and doesn't have any original connection to our state?
Name for Gain
I wonder what other businesses or companies use Texas' name for gain, but didn't get their start here. Did somebody say Texas Roadhouse? Hmmmm. Tap the Chat button in our free app and let me know. Or, go on our Facebook page and comment. I sure would love to know.
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