Liberal hypocrisy rears its ugly head again. Liberals want freedom of speech, but a burger joint should be censored? It is ironic that a group that could be considered borderline offensive to some conservative groups is running around being the morality police in a town known for being very liberal.
Burger joint’s name, logo irks LGBT group
When the owners of Quickie Burger and Dogs chose their logo, they thought it would make patrons crave an order of chili cheese fries. But the logo, a busty woman in a tight shirt straddling a hamburger, has drawn criticism from campus groups.
The newest addition to the South State Street landscape has caused a stir on campus with its brightly colored logo, which some believe is offensive.
The restaurant, which opened two weeks ago, sits south of campus at the intersection of State and Hill streets. Adorning the blue awning above the restaurant next to its name is an image of a cowgirl riding a hamburger.
The Stonewall Democrats, a lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender caucus of the University’s College Democrats chapter, has taken offense with the restaurant’s logo and recently began circulating a petition to sway the owners to change the logo.
LSA senior Kolby Roberts, a member of the Stonewall Democrats who has led the effort, said he finds the logo’s message inappropriate and offensive.
“I have a problem that you take a women riding a hamburger and you put it next to the word ‘quickie,’ ” he said. “It just seems like it’s not putting a good message out there for the objectification of women.”
Maria Arman, whose family owns the restaurant, said the logo was meant to invoke a cowboy theme.
“We were thinking beef, rodeo, so instead of putting a cowboy, we just picked a cowgirl,” she said. “It’s a rodeo-style cowgirl riding a bull, but instead, it’s a burger. It was put together to be funny and different. No offense was meant to anyone.”
Before selecting a logo for the restaurant, which features a maize and blue color scheme with televisions tuned to ESPN on the interior, the owners showed the logo to more than 100 people and none of them objected, Arman said.
“The people who we talked to told us, ‘It’s a college town and the kids will think its funny,'” she said.
LSA freshman Dan Yeomans said while he wasn’t personally offended by the logo, he could see how others might interpret it in a negative way.
“I could see the same people who were offended by the South Quad T-shirts taking offense to this,” said Yeomans, referring to a batch of dorm-sponsored shirts that featured lyrics from the popular, but controversial Soulja Boy song “Crank That.”
Roberts said he believed the image was distasteful, regardless of the person.
“Basically, what it has is a provocatively dressed woman straddling a hamburger, and she’s very busty and its kind of really horrible,” he said.
Roberts and the Stonewall Democrats have begun circulating a petition, which he said currently has about 100 signatures. The group plans to send a letter along with the petition to the owners. The restaurant’s name, he said, isn’t a problem.
Roberts said the purpose of the letter and petition is to convince the Armans to alter the logo.
“I don’t think anyone has a problem with the name because it implies that I’m going to get a quick burger,” he said. “Instead, we’re just thinking about getting rid of the logo. Maybe trying to change it so it’s less offensive.”
Arman said she would be open to talking with the protesters.
“We will consider talking to them,” she said. “We’re open-minded. We’re not here to offend anyone or to make anyone angry.”
