Free food for customers with a big Instagram following
304 views · Published 23 October 2018 · 5:26 · Indexed 26 September 2026
Channel: AP Archive · 2018 · News & Politics
(18 Oct 2018) LEADIN: A restaurant in Milan is offering free food to customers with a large social media following. It uses the number of Instagram followers a person has to determine how much they should pay. STORYLINE: There's something fishy going on in this new sushi restaurant in Milan. At 'This is not a sushi bar' payment is made according to social media popularity. Customers Chiara Valenzano and Giulia Terranova are keen to try out the new concept. "We have about 1600 followers each, so not a lot, and we don't know," says Valenzano. "We hope to get one free dish, perhaps a uramaki, we'll see," adds Terranova. The restaurant opened its doors this week and is gathering a lot of curiosity, as customers come in or call in to check how the payment system works and what their bill might be. The restaurant divides Instagram accounts into five categories: After ordering the first dish, customers with over 1000 followers can receive one free dish; customers with over 5000 followers can receive two free dishes, four free dishes for those with more than 10,000 followers and eight if you have over 50,000 followers. With over 100,000 followers, your meal could be free. However, to receive the offer customers must post a picture taken at the restaurant including the restaurant's Instagram account name and hashtag. "A large part of our clients are from the millennial generation, many are girls, and we don't tend to reach these people, they are all on Instagram, and we didn't used to talk to them, we weren't present on that social network. The idea to have somebody pay for dinner while giving us visibility seemed like a nice engagement idea, a word of mouth promotion that could make our brand strong and viral." explains Matteo Pittarello, Founder of "This is not a Sushi Bar." After hearing about the concept, radio hosts Clizia Incorvaia and Vittoria Hyde also came to check it out. "We gave the news on the radio and we came to check it out to see if it was really a good sushi place, and if it was true we could pay with our followers. It was a particular kind of news, we wanted to see if it was real or a hoax like we see so many times on the Internet nowadays," says Incorvaia who hosts a program called Milano Skyline about trends and happenings in Milan. These two could become regulars at this restaurant, as they have many followers. "I have two hundred thousand followers because I have been working with fashion brands for a few years and I got the whole meal for free, so we tasted everything from gunkan (sushi) to tartar and I have to say it is really good," says Incorvaia. Incorvaia is enjoying the idea of receiving free food for being popular online. "I'd say there is more satisfaction," she says while eating. Hyde says the restaurant is keeping up with how the younger generations operate. "Something like this had so exist some day, 'This is not a sushi bar' is so up to date with our times, it's a kind of barter, we exchange goods, followers against food," says Hyde. After taking pictures, choosing filters and hash tags carefully, customers are requested to show the cashier their accounts before they receive the bill. "With this procedure, when you arrive at the cashier you have the possibility to get a discount, or rather we prefer to say, we offer you something because this operation was born to make new friends and nothing is free, even between friends, but you can offer dinner" says Pittarello. "It's the future," adds Hyde, as she pretends to swipe her phone to pay. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter: https://twitter.com/AP_Archive Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/APArchives Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/APNews/ You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/dbdd6f8a23a65aceaf95783db8aede7a
