Restaurant Owner Pledges to Give a 20 Percent Discount to ‘Gingers’

Photo via (cc) Flicker user NRK P3

Redheads—or “gingers,” as they’re pejoratively called in Britain—have suffered undue bullying for generations. A study of redheads in 20 countries found that 60.6 percent of males and 47.3 percent of females with red hair said that they had suffered some kind of discrimination in the past because of their hair color. Although redheads are far from an oppressed people, anti-redhead sentiment hit its peak in 2013 with “Kick a Ginger Day,” inciting playground violence in England.

Over the past few years, the world has come to openly embrace redheads, with “Kiss a Ginger Day” being celebrated annually on social media. And now, a self-described “former ginger” restaurateur wants to give some love to his freckled brethren with a special offer. Mark Linaker, owner of Ginger’s Grill in Prestatyn, Wales, is offering 20 percent off to customers with red hair. “I feel that gingers deserve a break,” Linaker told Wales Online. “As one of my friends said to me, ‘gingers have been getting stick for a long time now,’ so it is time they got something back.” Linaker calls himself a former ginger because he’s gone bald and no longer has his beautiful fire-colored locks.

“The deal will be 20 percent off a meal for a genuine ginger,” he says, although he has yet to determine the guidelines on what makes someone a real redhead. Linaker’s restaurant is set to open in April, and he hopes it will become a place where redheads from around the world can gather in solidarity.