Offering free food to select customers isn’t exactly a new way to promote a restaurant. But a restaurant in the Chinese city of Zhengzhou is putting a new spin on that idea. And not everyone is a fan of the promotion.
The Jeju Island restaurant is offering free meals to 50 of its most attractive customers each day. To qualify for a free meal, customers can go to a “beauty identification area,” where they’re photographed and then evaluated by a group of plastic surgeons. The surgeons evaluate each customer’s facial features and choose the most attractive people based on a number of different factors. At the end of the day, the 50 most attractive customers are awarded a free meal.
The plastic surgeons are working with the restaurant to promote their services. After the evaluations, the surgeons even provide some tips about which procedures might be able to enhance each customer’s beauty. While this type of promotion could definitely grab some attention, it also has the potential to anger a lot of people.
As far as the restaurant is concerned, such a promotion could lure in some new customers who are curious or hopeful for a free lunch. But it could also intimidate others or just turn them off to the restaurant altogether.
In fact, the city of Zhengzhou was not pleased with the promotion, and worried that it could damage the city’s image. Officials even had the sign advertising the promotion removed because the restaurant didn’t have official permission. The bright pink sign read “Free meal for Goodlooking.”
The restaurant’s manager Xue Hexin told the Telegraph:
“We will be more prudent with our advertising in future. But the promotion will continue despite the demolition of our sign.”
It’s definitely a unique idea for a promotion and it’s gained a lot of attention. But is all the attention worth the negativity surrounding it?
Surgeon Inspection Photo via Shutterstock
In China, sure, this could work. For any US-based company this would be a PR nightmare waiting to happen.
Annie Pilon
I think a lot of people over there don’t appreciate it much either. But yes, here it would probably be even worse.
Aira Bongco
I agree. This can work for a country that cares too much about looks but doesn’t have confronting people. In other countries, this would be disaster where a lot of people can file concerns of discrimination.
Annie Pilon
Completely agree. It wouldn’t be worth the negative publicity.
Fact Check
For your information, Zhengzhou is China, jeju is Korea.
Annie Pilon
The restaurant is in China but serves Korean food, which is why it is named as such, I’d imagine.