Off-color tweets from Plaid Pantry? Nope, just a parody account - OregonLive.com

Off-color tweets from Plaid Pantry? Nope, just a parody account - OregonLive.com

"Construction delays on trimet are nothing an ice cold 24oz can of malt liquor in a paper sack can't fix."

How about that for a pinned tweet?

A Plaid Pantry parody account, using the handle @PlaidPantryInc and linking to Plaid Pantry's website, has been posting this and similar tweets since July.

The tweets encourage followers to stock up on cheap beer and snacks while warning of "homeless drug addicts" and "meth-heads."

The account also references current events, like Monday night's debate, lead-tainted drinking water at Portland Public Schools and the Springwater Corridor homeless sweep ordered by Portland Mayor Charlie Hales.

As the Springwater Trail is cleared and the homeless flood the city, just remember how lucky you are to drink your Steel Reserve indoors.

— Plaid Pantry (@PlaidPantryInc) September 1, 2016

The tweets even included photos of robberies, fires and car accidents at Plaid Pantry stores.

#tbt Can't believe it's been a year since this day! http://pic.twitter.com/AJN0X2qAqm

— Plaid Pantry (@PlaidPantryInc) August 11, 2016

As of Wednesday afternoon, the account had 147 followers, including the City of Beaverton and KPTV anchor Wayne Garcia. The account's description says it's unofficial, but that's easy to miss.

Plaid Pantry president Jonathan Polonsky said the Portland convenience store company isn't associated with the account. Plaid Pantry doesn't operate any social media accounts, he explained.

"It's obvious that it's nothing that our corporation would condone," he said of the tweets.

The company wasn't aware of the parody account until they were contacted today by The Oregonian/OregonLive, Polonsky said.

He has contacted Twitter and asked them to shut down the account, he said.

"When they start using our trademarked logo I'm sure we have leverage," he said. "We have no interest in participating in social media, but we don't want to be impersonated by somebody else."

Plaid Pantry has 110 locations, primarily in the Portland area, but also in the Seattle area, Vancouver and Salem.

We've reached out to the account owner, and we'll update this story if we hear back.

Update 2:22 p.m.

This was the response we received from the account:

@annamarum thank you for noticing our satire account. We'd like to offer you a coupon for some expired Pringles

— Plaid Pantry (@PlaidPantryInc) September 28, 2016

-- Anna Marum

amarum@oregonian.com
503-294-5911
@annamarum