Taking the Mexican Pesos for all It's Worth

A few weeks ago, I wrote about Pizza Patron, a pizza chain that targets Hispanics. The focus of my original post was about how the restaurant chain made national headlines by accepting the pesos in additional to the dollar earlier in the year, to which I suggested: "what's the big deal?"

Well, it turns out that many view accepting the Mexican Pesos as a political statement. But in contrast, I simply view it as good business -- not to mention a natural currency hedge against the declining dollar. It turns out that after all the controversy with Pizza Patron and this policy, that the chain had a great Q1, thanks in part to the Pesos strategy (the headline for the announcement noted that the "PESOS BACKLASH SPURS SALES AT PIZZA PATRON"). The body text of the press release notes that "In January 2007, the company launched its 'Pizza por Pesos' promotion which garnered international media attention and fueled intense debate on the issues surrounding illegal immigration in the U.S." Heck ... who says that smart Spend Management practices can't also make for great marketing initiatives?

- Jason Busch