Besha RodellA story in the L.A. Times yesterday profiled Brad Newman, a guy who writes a lot of online reviews and decided to figure out how to leverage that fact. He's invented The Reviewer Card, a $100 piece of plastic that you show to restaurant and hotel personnel to let them know you write online reviews, in the hopes your service will improve. From the universally disgusted reaction, it seems as though you might be more likely to receive spit in your dinner.
Eater wrote about the card, with the headline “ReviewerCard Takes Extorting Restaurants to a New Level.” On Twitter, food writers and chefs had their say:
Even the L.A. Times, in the original article, was much more opinionated about the card than is usual in a business story, coming right out in the headline and saying “Seeking preferential treatment with the flash of a card is wrong.” But perhaps Jay Rayner, food critic from The Guardian in the UK, said it best:
Want more Squid Ink? Follow us on Twitter or like us on Facebook.
Advertising disclosure: We may receive compensation for some of the links in our stories. Thank you for supporting LA Weekly and our advertisers.