EL PASO

Throwing shade on the Sun City? Some H-E-B cola can wraps cut off El Paso in Texas logo

Maria Cortes Gonzalez
El Paso Times

Some El Pasoans right now might be saying, "Who needs H-E-B anyway?"

A user on a Reddit community forum snapped a photo of an H-E-B Original Cola can with a logo of Texas that is missing the far western corner, which includes El Paso. A post on KLAQ-95.5 FM's website notes that some El Pasoans were offended.

A store ad on the H-E-B website states, "You don't have to be from Texas to know that nothing beats the taste of a refreshing, ice cold sip of H-E-B Original Cola."

Some might say: You know what else nothing beats? Remembering that El Paso, way out here in the West, isn't just part of Texas — it's the best part.

H-E-B Original Cola has the state of Texas as part of the logo, as seen Thursday, Sept. 24, 2020. Some cans cut off El Paso, leading to outrage among some in the city.

The online comments led to the question: Does H-E-B not like El Paso? After all, the chain continues to grow in Texas and is heading to Lubbock by late 2020. It also recently announced plans to expand its distribution center in Temple.

But it turns out at least some of the online outrage might be a bit much.

The El Paso Times asked our colleagues at the Caller-Times in Corpus Christi, a city that H-E-B has decided is worthy of its presence, to check into the matter. They found out that some cans include El Paso. So, the Borderland is only slighted sometimes.

H-E-B was named the top grocery retailer in the country in February. Do you want one to come to El Paso?

A media representative for H-E-B said the Texas logo varies from product to product.

"The design on the can is adjusted to include the nutrition label ...  and the design varies on the cans, bottles, and the 12-pack box and reflects the entire state in the total design package," Dya Campos said in an email.

Campos ended the email by saying, "H-E-B loves every inch of Texas!"

So, maybe H-E-B doesn't hate us. It just doesn't love us enough to put a grocery store here. That's cool. Albertsons, Food King, Vista Markets and plenty of others like us just fine. 

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María Cortés González may be reached at 915-546-6150; mcortes@elpasotimes.com; @EPTMaria on Twitter.