No, what happened is what happened at Matt's, folks return the meat. It only takes one or two days of folks bringing meat back, wanting their money refunded, saying it is red and they don't eat raw meat to make you put a sign on the menu explaining the smoked meats have a smoke ring and a reddish hue..
And it isn't just here in California, as much as you guys love to poke at us, you might want to remember that around half of our population is less than one full generation from immigrating here. I know more people from the south and east here, than I know born here. Further, I think this is more of a comment on how few places really smoke their meats, that the idea of a reddish hue to the meat, or a smoke ring, confuses people.