The restaurant owner had a very funny and harsh response to an influencer who wanted to collaborate
A restaurant owner recently had his fill of influencers looking for a free meal and decided to give two of them a memorable piece of his mind in a fiery response.
You might assume that getting promoted by an influencer in exchange for a complimentary meal sounds like a win-win for restaurant owners.
But, if the reaction from this Australian restaurateur is anything to go by, that's not always the case.
In fact, his response might just make influencers think twice before approaching restaurants for a free dining experience in return for some online exposure.
The Australian restaurant owner decided he wasn’t going to let the invite to ‘colab’ slide. Getty Stock Image
Elle Groves and her friend Annie Knight, who run the Two Teaspoons social media account, reached out to an unnamed restaurant hoping to arrange a free meal.
In return, Groves promised to deliver a glowing review on their social media platforms.
However, it's worth noting that Groves and Knight have a relatively modest following of 7,000, while the restaurant they aimed to 'promote' boasts a substantial 23,500 followers on Instagram.
The dynamics of who would benefit more from this arrangement seem a bit skewed.
The exchange, which was captured in screenshots and uploaded by Australian food writer John Lethlean in 2022, shows how the conversation unfolded.
"Hey guys! My friend and I have a food page together - @twoteaspooons - and saw your restaurant and thought it looked amazing!" Groves wrote.
"We would love to come and try it out in exchange for some stories on our personal accounts, and a post and stories on our food page accounts.
"Would you guys be interested in doing this collab? If not, we completely understand. We can't wait to hear from you XXX"
The restaurant owner didn't just decline the offer; he chose to make a statement with his reply.
"Hey, Elle apologies for the delay...I've been grappling with how much rage to demonstrate/throw in your direction," he began.
"But it's even worse when COVID is still very much a thing, affecting small businesses like us devastatingly for two years now."
He added, "Maybe give it a year or so and see how the business landscape looks, and see if you can amass enough followers for your 'collabs' to actually be of benefit to the venues you approach so naively, instead of them being only of benefit to you."
This response could certainly be considered a mic drop moment.
Groves defended her actions and said she never asked for free food. Instagram / ellegroves
Following the backlash, Groves defended herself in an interview with Mail Online.
Stating she never explicitly requested free food and that 'it is always left open to them to what they want to offer'.
Regardless of how it's framed, influencers might need to reconsider their approach. Maybe just pay for the meal you're interested in reviewing, right?
