Restaurant Calls Out Food Influencer For Asking $100 Off Food Up Front
Corner 17, a Chinese restaurant based in St. Louis, Missouri recently called out an Instagram food influencer for demanding $100 off food up front and then slamming the restaurant on Instagram after he was declined a collaboration request.
In a post shared on Corner 17’s Instagram page, Los Angeles-area food blogger Antonio Malik of @antonio_eats_la appears to direct message the restaurant offering to stop by, capture footage of the food and post it to his over 213,000 Instagram followers in exchange for $100 off his meal. The restaurant politely declined.
What followed was Malik giving a negative review of Corner 17 on his Instagram Stories, even incorrectly calling the restaurant’s baos as “dumplings.”
Corner 17 saw this as disrespectful retaliation, to the point where they felt threatened and had to defend their business from what they felt was an intentional negative review by a food Instagram account with such a large following.
The restaurant then decided to share the experience on their Instagram page, expressing in the caption, “An intentionally bad write-up from a large following influencer because of our refusal to accept their collaboration is unprofessional and a such hostile manner can simply ruin their businesses.”
Corner 17 further stated, “I want to step up because we felt threatened by this media influencer. I want to give a voice to my Asian community that is ok to say no and turn down any promotional offers, no fear to stand up and defend yourself.”
Social media and St. Louis food bloggers have since come to the defense of Corner 17 in overwhelming fashion, with such support being crucial as restaurants continue to navigate rising food costs, staffing shortages, and the current economic climate brought on by the pandemic.
