Petty to boycott local restaurants due to this?

[Wife226]

We are quite fortunate to have a really good selection of restaurants where we live. Two are under the same ownership but are different themes etc.

One in particular recently re-opened after a refurbishment and there has been a string of local ‘influencers’ and I use the term lightly putting up posts of them eating there (multiple courses) with it being clear that they were given it for free.

They also did similar with their other restaurant in the summer.

Is it petty to no longer visit them as a result? I would resent paying full price whilst the ‘influencer’ (PT with 2000 followers) gets it all for free.

For me it wouldn’t be anything to do with getting a free meal. I’d just not bother with a place that thought I’d be persuaded by an influencer.

False reviews have existed since the dawn of time.

If the place was always seemingly crammed with people filming and getting freebies then it would definitely put me off.

They should do a press night or whatever where they invite all the types they wish to promote the brand. Get it all out of way and then hopefully normal people can use it!

So you’re saying that you’re loaded but you’re annoyed that other people got something you didn’t? Look in the mirror and ask yourself if you’ve ever got perks that other people didn’t get because of your husband’s C suite job (which is not even your job).

The word you're looking for is 'paying' - there isn't any bribery involved.

You do realise that every single advert you've ever seen has been paid for?

I own a cafe bar.
It’s almost impossible to earn a living in this business at the moment. It’s utterly exhausting and soul destroying to keep this up. Pretty much all hospitality businesses are in this position.
We try and do everything we can to keep going.
Please don’t boycott any businesses for this reason. They may be a small chain but people’s jobs depend on their success.

It’s just a way of advertising though. I don’t understand why it’s so offensive. Bigger firms pay a household name to advertise their product on tv.
It’s a way of spreading the word they’ve reopened and you can see the food etc.

@Whyarepeoplewhich is why I go off friends and family

Look, whether you like it or not, giving an influencer a free meal which will be filmed and put in front of an audience of potentially thousands of people many of whom will be local, is really no different than paying for advertising.

What pisses me off is when influencers contact businesses and say things like 'I'm hosting a party for my child/getting married/whatever, I need balloon arches/a cake/some catering/some flowers, and if you supply them free of charge I'll plug you to my followers.'

That's just cheeky and entitled. But if a business wants to work with influencers to promote them because it suits the business, as it would with the launch of a new restaurant, then I don't see the harm. It's just the modern way of doing advertising.

Fair enough. I tend not to limit my choices only to things my friends and family have experienced, sometimes I look for other sources of information.

It’s a pretty pointless gesture to boycott without saying why. Why not raise a concern to the owner instead so they know that regular customers aren’t feeling valued? They can’t fix a problem if they don’t know it’s there.

No - the point is that they are using the influencer to advertise instead of traditional ways.

Influencers are no different than any other form of advertising these days. I see the free food as a marketing fee.

I do know what you mean.

I used to religiously use an online cleaning brand, for many years, before cleaning became this stupid trendy thing. They'd send the orders out on time, all was great.

And then during lockdown they really stepped up their social media thing. All of a sudden, "influencers" were getting sent free stuff, and they'd show "influencers" dancing while cleaning, etc. All very annoying but would have been perfectly fine IF they'd still managed to treat long time customers with respect. Which they didn't. Every single order took 4 weeks to arrive instead of 1, the bottles would all be leaking, etc. Plenty complain on Instagram but they don't respond. Just give you 5% discount off your next order. All while we watch "influencers" opening absolutely beautiful boxes of freebies while screaming OMG I DIDN'T EXPECT THIIIIS!

I stopped using them. There's plenty else out there. No they won't miss my custom but I'm not going to be treated poorly so some 20 year olds can get free stuff.

How do you know they got it for free? Did the restaurant or the ‘influencer’ tell you that or did you just assume?

I think you are nuts to boycott a local restaurant because it chose to pay for a form of advertising by giving some local influencers a free meal.

It sounds like the advertising was so successful that they struggled to keep up with demand. That's bad business but the fact they used influencers is neither here nor there - they just didn't plan well for the rise in demand.

I have a shit ton of family which has its uses 😆 Between family, friends and colleagues i can canvass a lot of honest opinions.

I have just been influenced by my neighbour who offered me some new M&S merry munch, it was yum and i will buy that alongside the traditional one I usually get. I don’t think she was paid to groom us!

The only reason I would boycott them is if I might end up in the background of someone’s video - I don’t want that!

Me too. This thread is bonkers.

Does OP not realise that even the likes of M&S pay influencers? It's no different to paying Twiggy to wear your gear.

No, but the people who researched up-and-coming flavours and textures, the people who designed the merry munch, the people who advertised it in order to establish it as a product and the people who merchandised it in the shop were all definitely paid. The fact that it's now spreading through word of mouth is a huge win for all those people.

The thing with most influencers, is that without the internet, a camera and a high % of their audience who are unable to engage critical thinking

they'd be still calling up for sandwiches from mum's basement

Oh definitely. They really took off.

However, they released a Christmas scent a few years ago and then bragged how they had "over a million orders". People were getting upset about non-receipt of orders, BUT influencers were still filming themselves opening free boxes of that very new scent.

If this is your mindset then you'd basically need to boycott almost every product and retailer you currently use. Businesses are always giving away freebies in return for free promotion. In fact, it's even worse for big brands because they give stuff to celebrities who are already loaded (even without the C-Suite salary).

Restaurants are struggling like hell due to rising costs. If giving an influencer a free steak and chips means they get a few more people through their doors, good for them!

So what is your point then? That they’ve chosen to target their advertising locally via “influencers”? I don’t know what the problem is - would you be happier if they’d taken out a page in a national newspaper or a magazine instead?

It does look like you’re annoyed because someone got a free meal in exchange for advertising. My objection to that would be the same as all those travel articles you see in The Times etc - I’m sceptical about their opinion because they got a freebie. But that’s a different thing and not your objection.