“The controversy surrounding a Dallas-based pizza chain’s plan to offer free pizza to anyone who ordered in Spanish has been strong, but even the company has been surprised at the lengths people have gone to express their displeasure,” according to WTSP.com.

“In a released emailed to CBSDFW Friday, Dallas-based Pizza Patron said the announcement of their June 5 ‘Pizza Por Favor‘ campaign resulted in worldwide calls of both support and opposition, but company president Guillermo Estrada said the company was “surprised by the extent of the reaction.”

The chain also says they were the victim of hackers following the flurry of news reports about the promotion, and were forced to shut down some website operations until they could resolve the issues.”