Pizza Patrón's controversial "Pizza, por favor" promotion, held June 5, exceeded the company's expectations by about 40,000 pizzas.
According to the Dallas News, the chain gave away 120,000 pizzas at its 100-plus locations nationwide.
The company predicted the promotion would yield about 80,000 pizza giveaways.
Brand director Andrew Gamm said "multiple thousands" were lined up at Dallas area stores for the three-hour giveaway. Restaurants that ran out of pizzas gave away free pizza coupons.
As with its "Pizza Por Pesos" program launched in 2007, the "Pizza, por favor" campaign ignited plenty of controversy. According to USA Today, Peter Thomas, chairman of the Conservative Caucus, said the campaign "seems to punish people who can't speak Spanish," something he says he resents.
Gamm said Pizza Patron's customer base, however, is 70 percent Spanish-speaking, and the company is trying to make its bond with that community stronger.
The company had a handful of angry messages on its Twitter and Facebook pages, but a majority of comments were in support of the campaign. Gamm said, however, there were "a number of complaints" via phone, email and online, and several locations throughout Texas, Georgia and California received envelopes containing a white powder substance. The substance was later discovered to be harmless.
According to the Dallas News article, Pizza Patrón is planning on running another promotion in October.
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