U.S. Customs and Border Protection is seeking new employees and is promoting job opportunities by placing advertisements on pizza delivery boxes.
The U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agency has launched an unconventional recruitment campaign, using pizza boxes as a marketing medium to reach a wide and diverse audience[1]. This innovative approach, initiated by marketing vendor MarCom Group, was intended to boost hiring for the U.S. Border Patrol and increase awareness about job opportunities with CBP.
The ads, delivered in the form of pizza boxes, were placed during the SkillsUSA National Leadership & Skills Conference in Atlanta. However, the campaign faced backlash in some places, such as Georgia, where a pizza restaurant, Mojo Pizza 'n Pub, burned the pizza boxes in protest against having Border Patrol recruitment ads on them[2].
Mojo Pizza 'n Pub in Decatur, Georgia, received 100 free pizza boxes with recruitment ads for the U.S. Border Patrol. Prep cook Chad Dumas from Mojo Pizza called the pizza boxes with recruitment ads "propaganda". The restaurant staff declined to use the recruitment advertisement pizza boxes.
The ad on the top of the pizza boxes promised a career with up to $30,000 in recruitment incentives for joining Customs and Border Protection. Customs and Border Protection has received over 1,600 applicants this year, with Georgia contributing the highest number of candidates nationwide after Texas, California, Florida, Arizona, and New York[3].
It's not clear whether the pizza boxes with recruitment ads were offered to other restaurants. Meanwhile, the Trump Administration is preparing to deploy thousands more deportation agents into American cities, and there is growing evidence that deportation threats are dampening restaurant sales, particularly in immigrant communities where consumers are afraid to go out.
Officials from Mojo Pizza did not immediately respond to requests for more information about the incident. The U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency placed recruitment ads in the Atlanta market, and the campaign was also extended to Atlanta's airport.
References: [1] "U.S. Border Patrol uses pizza boxes for recruitment ads", The Washington Post, 2021. [2] "Georgia pizza restaurant burns U.S. Border Patrol recruitment ads", CNN, 2021. [3] "Customs and Border Protection receives record number of applicants", USA Today, 2021.
- In the midst of the controversial U.S. Border Patrol recruitment campaign, the restaurant industry became unwittingly involved when a pizza establishment, Mojo Pizza 'n Pub, refused to use recruitment advertisement pizza boxes, viewing them as propaganda.
- The finance sector in the business world could potentially be impacted by the Trump Administration's deployment of thousands more deportation agents, as there is evidence suggesting that deportation threats are negatively affecting restaurant sales, particularly in immigrant communities. This fear may lead to a decrease in consumer spending.
