[Zappo]

Originally Posted by akshay1234

well obviously they dont mean racism, its just worded badly. im sure everyone can access hagen daaz and the free trail is only meant for travellers, a bit stupid but its upto them who they want to give free trails to right? they probably dont want everyone of the street going in and asking for a free trail. and how is it racism? they dont mention only european or american travellers only.

some of the above is in a ligher note, but we dont need to make a big deal about one dumb sign.

Whether they meant it or not, just for what the whole thing implied they can be severely penalized in a different country. Remember, the author says they declined entry to his friend even though he has travelled world over but holds an Indian passport. Also, they are in business and not charity. Even the free trial that they were offering was to garner business.

At the end of the day it is the Bapu whom we all love, including these guys. And if someone has the wherewithals to afford their brand of product are they going to decline the business tomorrow just because they do not hold an international passport? It is a strange strategy, to put it mildly. And even if that is the strategy then at least Mr. Haagan Das should have opened his shop in the international airport. No?

[Akshay1234]

Originally Posted by Zappo

Whether they meant it or not, just for what the whole thing implied they can be severely penalized in a different country. Remember, the author says they declined entry to his friend even though he has travelled world over but holds an Indian passport. Also, they are in business and not charity. Even the free trial that they were offering was to garner business.

At the end of the day it is the Bapu whom we all love, including these guys. And if someone has the wherewithals to afford their brand of product are they going to decline the business tomorrow just because they do not hold an international passport? It is a strange strategy, to put it mildly. And even if that is the strategy then at least Mr. Haagan Das should have opened his shop in the international airport. No?

oh boy, im staying awake too late nowadays. i completely misunderstood the thing. i agree completely.

[MileCruncher]

This is the blog along with the picture.
Sorry, Indians not allowed : India : Rajesh Kalra : TOI Blogs

They havge definitely made a big boo in their marketing and its come in the front page of today's ET. I suggest we should simply boycott them.

[sidkun]

Most people like me (misers) would avoid it anyway, considering it's not what I would call VFM. Same with Baskin Robbins..... check out the quantity of shake you get for, what, 90 Rs or so, at the Bengalooru International Airport. Anyway, I'm a die-hard Corner House fan and even though they've raised prices significantly of late, it's still Corner House for me.

PS: BTW, Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't there a Haagen Dasz outlet on North Main Road in Koregaon Park, Pune since a long time? So I thought they were already present in India?

[ashwinsid]

Originally Posted by akshay1234

well obviously they dont mean racism, its just worded badly. im sure everyone can access hagen daaz

In the blog, it is mentioned that they tried to enter showing their passports (with lot of international travel stamps in them) and they were told only International Passport holders are allowed.

Originally Posted by sidkun

Most people like me (misers) would avoid it anyway, considering it's not what I would call VFM

As true as it might be, they should not restrict access on the basis of nationality.

In that case, can everyone afford a Honda City? So should they also restrict access to only those who furnish bank statements with huge balances?

Point is, being located in India, and being a commercial establishment, they cannot restrict access based on race, nationality. They do reserve right of access if someone misbehaves and stuff. But not this way. (no offense meant mate, just explaining)

[Fortuner71]

Best is to ignore such brands , if we a billion strong ignore , this brand will be history

[Sli_ce]

Its actually made it to the headlines on TOI now!

No Indians allowed; Haagan Dazs says wrong choice of words - India - The Times of India

[sgiitk]

Vote with your pocketbook (as the yanks call it). Boycott the brand, they will be out of India if they cannot get the moolah. Otherwise make them buy TV advertising time and apologise on air.

[MileCruncher]

Originally Posted by Fortuner71

Best is to ignore such brands , if we a billion strong ignore , this brand will be history

Originally Posted by sgiitk

Vote with your pocketbook (as the yanks call it). Boycott the brand, they will be out of India if they cannot get the moolah. Otherwise make them buy TV advertising time and apologise on air.

I agree with you. We should simply boycott the brand. As it is I'm very stingy and my best icecream is Amul/Mother Diary.

Slight OT : Amul and Mother Diary are the only major ice cream producers. All others Kwality -Walls et al are "Frozen Desserts" because they use Vegetable Fat inplace of Milk Cream and hence as per a court order cannot use the name Ice Cream

[Jayabusa]

If this is true, we Indians better boycott this chain. Their behaviour is dumb. How many expats are actually gonna be there at a given time to have ice-creams? We Indians are the ones who can actually give them business and that too huge, but they have already rubbed us the wrong way.

To those who think this isn't racist behavior and just a move to stop people who just want to sample and not buy, let us look at it from a purely logical perspective. Indians who are new to the brand are the ones who would actually want to sample because they are completely unafamiliar.

Originally Posted by vivekiny2k

LOL, the name itself leaves a bad taste if you know hindi.

Hahahahahahaha!

[pradster]

Some people who I follow on twitter had been denied access to the store. I went to select city walk last night and apparently all was normal after the hue and cry. Indians were eating in the store and giving these sad pigs their money.
Personally, Haagen Daz is way way way overrated, they make pretty crappy ice cream ( for the price they charge anyway) Ben and Jerry would beat them flat and Cold stone creamery would demolish them ( But they will never come to india!)

I Would advise all responsible folks to not patronize this racist store.

[esteem_lover]

What about the expats here like Thad E. Ginathom, are they allowed ?

[sidkun]

Originally Posted by ashwinsid

In the blog, it is mentioned that they tried to enter showing their passports (with lot of international travel stamps in them) and they were told only International Passport holders are allowed.



As true as it might be, they should not restrict access on the basis of nationality.

In that case, can everyone afford a Honda City? So should they also restrict access to only those who furnish bank statements with huge balances?

Point is, being located in India, and being a commercial establishment, they cannot restrict access based on race, nationality. They do reserve right of access if someone misbehaves and stuff. But not this way. (no offense meant mate, just explaining)

No offense taken. I was not being an apologist for Haagen Dasz, so your explanation wasn't really necessary, since I don't approve of them keeping out anyone on the basis of race or nationality. That disapproval has been discussed by many others on this thread and having nothing new to contribute, I refrained from voicing my strong disapproval.
Only thing is, I don't think the corporate headquarters of Haagen Dasz, wherever it is located, would dare think up such an approach, for extreme fear of being sued shirtless. At the cost of sounding repetitive, as others pointed out, it's the Indian franchise owner (or whoever thought of the campaign here), who's @$$ licking and being discriminatory. How's banning an MNC going to help change our own attitude?

[Edsel Rulez!]

Originally Posted by esteem_lover

What about the expats here like Thad E. Ginathom, are they allowed ?

If he has a maroon passport, certainly.

[vasudeva]

News that Haagen Dazs is now available. I clearly saw the same ice cream in many good shops in Central Delhi over the last few months. Different matter though that I do not want to pay Rs. 200 for zillions of calories, and then spend hours working it off. For me, all sweets are just sugar and fat in a different form (no diabetes patient though).