Arizona’s gotten some bad press lately because of its controversial new immigration law, but the makers of Arizona Iced Tea want to clarify: They’re actually from New York.
The state of Arizona passed a law last week requiring law enforcement officials to demand the papers of anyone they reasonably suspect of being in the country illegally.
Apparently fearing a boycott of Arizona Beverages products, Don Vultaggio, the founder and chairman, posted a note on the “Recent Concerns” section of the company’s website called “Arizona’s From New York.”
Vultaggio distanced “AriZona” from Arizona, describing his company’s humble New York roots, while emphasizing that Arizona Beverages is “an American company” — perhaps to prevent Arizona law enforcement agents from getting any ideas.
Here’s the full note:
To All Our Friends, Customers and Loyal Fans,
We have become aware of misinformation being circulated about AriZona Beverages and we would like to make sure statements about our company are correct. As many of you know, AriZona Beverages proudly traces its origins back to New York. In 1992, two hard working guys from Brooklyn with a dream created AriZona Iced Tea. Since then, and despite the wonderful success AriZona has enjoyed throughout the United States and internationally, we have remained loyal to our family run business based in New York. For the last 16 years our headquarters have remained on Long Island where we continue to sell and distribute AriZona Iced Teas and beverages.
We are very proud to be an American company with roots in New York and we look forward to continuing to provide you with the high quality and value driven products we’ve been making for the last 18 years.
