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Why don't more restaurants advertise cleanliness?

M

Memeito

Bluelighter
Joined
Jul 2, 2010
Messages
168
According to many surveys the most important thing people look for in a restaurant is cleanliness. This is more important than the food,the service offered, the prices,etc. So, I proposed to my boss, the head of a fast-food restaurant chain to focus on this aspect in our future advertising strategy. I came up with an idea for a commercial where we will show how the cooks wash their hands, mop the floor, clean the pots and cooking utensils,etc...The commercial ends with the slogan:"Because there's nothing more important than cleanliness!" However, my boss wasn't very thrilled with the idea and said people might get suspicious...
I was like: "Huh? Suspicious???".I don't get it....What's wrong with advertising cleanliness?
 
Hmm before I even read your post I found myself agreeing with your boss. The thought in my mind? Why don't you go around telling people you're not insane? There's no need to advertise something that is a 'necessity' such as cleanliness. Instead you advertise your uniqueness and your ability - the things that a consumer will notice.
 
bloodshed344 said:
There's no need to advertise something that is a 'necessity' such as cleanliness.
Click to expand...

Yes, cleanliness is indeed a necessity, but unfortunately it is many times ignored. You wouldn't believe some of the stuff that happens in some restaurants! We want to be totally honest with our customers and acknowledge the fact that hygiene is a problem in some restaurants. One ad version would feature disgusting stuff that usually happens in most restaurants: cooks not washing their hands, picking their noses, scratching their butts, dropping stuff on the floor and then putting it back in the pot,etc. A voiceover would then speak: "We are not going to insult your inteligence...We know that lots of nasty stuff happens in fast-food restaurants...".Then we switch to an immaculate and shiny kitchen with people cleaning, scrubbing ands sterilising everything with high-tech equipment - it looks almost like a sci-fi medical lab... The voice continues: "But not in our restaurants! Because for us, cleanliness is the top priority!".
What do you think?
 
I can understand why your boss said that. Best to just be a super clean establishment and let your customers realize that by going there. For me, having worked in a few, I know how dirty those places can get. If i stop and think about it, probably would neve eat out, ever!

Advertising dollars spent on this subject would be wasted in my opinion. The cleanliness should speak for itself.
 
Add in the fact that many food service workers are forced to come to work sick and you have an outbreak waiting to happen.

Most people don't wash their hands sufficiently to kill hardy germs like norovirus, which is responsible for ~80% of "stomach flu". It's even more common than bacterial food poisoning like salmonella or e. coli and is considered a food-borne illness. It's contracted literally by EATING SHIT, such as when a sick person fails to wash their hands after wiping and then handles food. YOUR food.

So much sickness could be prevented if sick employees were encouraged to stay home. But no, capitalism.

Germophobia FTW!
 
^yeah i agree, fuck i hate how every job i've ever had says 'don't come into work if you're sick' but then will shit all over you if you dare call in sick. I was actually 'let go' from a job because i had fucking bronchitis and wouldn't be able to finish training on time, and the fuckers didn't even give me a second chance. So when i get sick and am forced to go somewhere i don't want or need to be, i'm spreading my germs everywhere and everyone can get sick.

as for OP; i don't think any consumer would find it appetizing that your fast food restaurant is clean. I just assume they are dirty as fuck and take my chances. Not that a real restaurant is any better, probably worse. Still if you go out and say come here because it's clean, it just sounds off. It's like a prostitute saying 'pick me up i don't have any STDs and am infertile' i'm sure every customer would still think she was dirty and would think your restaurant was dirty as well.
 
It's supposed to be implied. The same reason movie theaters don't advertise floors that aren't sticky. Same with strip clubs. All we can do is hope for the best, but sometimes we just end up sticky. That's the chance you take when you venture out in public.
 
yeah its one of those things that should just be understood, i might be weary if a place were to advertise how clean it is lol...like "now even cleaner than before with 30% less rodent feces!" as many kitchens ive worked in they were all kinda dirty. i worked at a 4 star over priced place and the kitchen was abhorent, dead bugs, cig butts, dirt, filthy hoods and range, worst of all the ventilation system was super dirty so when it would kick on it was like dropping dust and skin cells and who knows what else into a wind turbine and letting it blow everywhere. plus some of the dish washers would eat left over food from the plates and drink left over drinks lol...kid you not, a plate was brought in that had a fairly large piece of very rare beef tenderloin (my guess was it was too rare and they didnt ask for it to be refired) but i watched one of the dishwashers pick it up and just pop it in his mouth, i gagged when i saw that. this place was famous for its milt juleps which they would serve in a glass covered with crushed ice that had been frozen prior to serving, it was actually kinda neat to serve a drink like that, but anyways i would see the dishwashers drinking the left overs out of the same straw. i promptly left that place and like a month later the health department fined it HARD and they had to shut down.

after working in kitchens i actually prefer to cook at home instead of going out, and it was also the catalyst to get me out of the food industry. plus there is always a lot of drug use in kitchens. im sure anyone who has ever worked in the food industry can attest to that.
 
Alasdair said:
^ indeed. it should go without saying.
Click to expand...

And indeed insofar as it doesn't go without saying, restaurants are better off not having consumers ask themselves questions about it. Actually, even if a restaurant is impeccably clean, patrons will have little opportunity to check their fears, so there's no party that will benefit from bringing the issue up (except for consumers).

Also, this is quite culturally specific. Eg, in many Indian contexts, food is commonly advertised as "hygienic", due to concerns bred by the caste system.

ebola
 
You will always see a sign like this in restrooms of public buildings:

handwash.gif


But, you'll never see a sign that says All Employees Have Washed Their Hands. Same concept, really. There are just some things that businesses don't want to assert, because there will always be those who will look for flaws in the design and won't stop until they find it.

"Cleanest restaurant, huh? Well we'll just see about that. I bet I'll find some filth!"

"Employees have washed their hands? Bullshit! I'm going to stay in this stall and film until I see an employee leave without washing their hands!"

There are too many assholes out there who like to piss in the wind and have absolutely nothing better to do with their life but prove others wrong.
 
Memeito said:
According to many surveys the most important thing people look for in a restaurant is cleanliness. This is more important than the food,the service offered, the prices,etc. So, I proposed to my boss, the head of a fast-food restaurant chain to focus on this aspect in our future advertising strategy. I came up with an idea for a commercial where we will show how the cooks wash their hands, mop the floor, clean the pots and cooking utensils,etc...The commercial ends with the slogan:"Because there's nothing more important than cleanliness!" However, my boss wasn't very thrilled with the idea and said people might get suspicious...
I was like: "Huh? Suspicious???".I don't get it....What's wrong with advertising cleanliness?
Click to expand...

It's a great idea, but best used indirectly.

Cute Cashier, Serving You
Gourmet Burgers w/ Every Mouth Watering Topping
Perfectly Arranged in Your Line of sight/Bite.

artifice
whopper.jpg

nature
whopper1.jpg
 
Hahahah ohman, reminds me why i dont eat fast food. That is perhaps the grossest looking chunk of processed foodstuffs ever.
 
why don't more airlines advertise "our planes don't crash"?

:)

alasdair
 
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