Bad Reviews And A Thank You

It’s the final few days before Christmas and most of you will be expecting to be winding down by now, just sending out a last few releases about sales, Veganuary or – if you’re very optimistic – even Valentine’s Day.

So pity the PR whose restaurant client got an absolute stinker of a review last weekend in a national newspaper. Instead of Secret Santa and party hats they must have been getting the flak jackets on to deal with the fallout.

I feel sure you’ll all know who it is, so I’ll save their blushes here, but the original ‘dismal’ review was then compounded by the writer posting the newly opened venue’s one out of five hygiene rating too. Ouch.

I’m not sure what I can advise other than recirculate that old poster of the restaurant critics to make sure every single new opening in the country is aware of the big hitters and to never, ever sit them near the loos or waiters’ station…

And meanwhile in happier news, I do want to thank all the food, drink and hospitality PRs who have sent me trends forecasts and consumer reports. They are helpful even if it’s to discuss why so many people order cucumbers on Uber Eats or whether offal really will ever be in fashion…

The slickest one and worthy of a special mention is the ‘In Service’ report from Gemma Bell & Company – a properly designed digital booklet which, I hear, may even appear in print in January. I’ll digest it properly (pun intended) over the break, but my first note is that ‘Virality’ is a new word on me, not to be confused with virility – this one’s all about how likely something is to go viral!

Thank you all for reading my columns this year and for the feedback, which is always so welcome. Happy Christmas and see you in the new year.