AriZona tea company is from New York City, photo/DeusXFlorida, flickr

Calls for a boycott of AriZona Iced Tea are misinformed.

According to the NY Daily News, the NYC-based makers of AriZona Iced Tea have become a target of anger over the new Arizona law permitting police to demand proof of citizenship.

Late-night comics have jumped into the fray:

Comedian George Lopez... made the drink a top ten topic on Twitter by joking that he "went to buy an AriZona Iced Tea—they asked me for my documentation, so I bought HORCHATA instead!"

The paper helpfully notes "if you're looking for a company to boycott, U-Haul and Cold Stone Creamery are based in Arizona."

To date, Scottsdale-based Kahala Brands, which franchises the Cold Stone and Blimpie chains, has not issued a press release, nor has the Phoenix-based Best Western hotel chain, although AriZona addressed the issue on the front of the "Recent Concerns" section of the AriZona website.

As the call to boycott Arizona companies gathers momentum, "Arizona boycott" became the 10th most popular Twitter subject and one of the top 100 Google searches. The Daily News suggestion may be tongue-in-cheek, but advocacy groups are posting lists of Arizona companies including Cold Stone and Best Western.

Companies which ignore threats to their franchisees—however misguided—place their franchisees' investment at risk, not to mention the value of their brand. Franchisors are paid to deal with brand reputation issues.