Netizens squirm over restaurant's caterpillar caper

By AM Marzoña, GMA News

Published December 13, 2011 3:45pm

UPDATED DEC15 A Filipino restaurant has found itself the object of widespread criticism on social media, after an upset customer posted photos online of a vegetable dish with what appears to be a whole caterpillar mixed in.

In an irate but humorously written "break-up letter" to her favorite restaurant, Chic-Boy, Sigrid Andrea P. Bernardo gave a detailed account of how she discovered what was apparently a caterpillar in her food —and the ensuing ruckus following her complaint to the restaurant staff. "Ngayon ko lang nakilala ang totoong CHICKBOY. Kung sino ka, at kung pano mo ko tratuhin. Dalawang linggo na ang nakakalaipas mula ng pinakain mo ako ng ginisang kangkong na may pagka-laki laking bulate o caterpilar o kung ano man yun," Bernardo wrote in a mock heartbreak fashion. (It's only now that I'm finding out about the real CHICKBOY. About who you really are, and how you treat me. It's been two weeks since you gave me sautéed water spinach with a side of giant earthworm or caterpillar or whatever that was.)

Bernardo said that the incident happened at Chic-boy Timog branch on the afternoon of November 21.

No apology forthcoming

Bernardo added that she is even more disappointed by the restaurant's apparent refusal to grant her an apology. She said that Chic-Boy management "lectured" her about the franchise and called in police to intervene in the dispute. "Napakadefensive kagad (ng Chic-Boy management)," she said. (Chic-Boy management was very defensive.)

Bernardo ended her Facebook post by suggesting that staff members undergo a seminar on sanitation and customer relations. Demolition job from competition?

Meanwhile, on the official Chic-Boy Facebook account, the restaurant dismissed the now-viral photo as a "demolition job" by a "desperate competitor."

"If you are familiar with Chic-Boys ginisang kangkong sa bawang, our kangkong is cut into bits. HOW COME IN THE PHOTO THEY POSTED, THE CATERPILLAR IS WHOLE?" Chic-Boy management challenged (emphasis theirs).

Netizens are refuting Chic-Boy's statement, however, saying that the size of the vegetables is irrelevant to the size of the caterpillar found in the dish.

"Should the caterpillar be in bits for it to be believable? It's a sauteed dish, hence, there is a minimal chance of shredding the insect on the process of cooking, if it was really mistakenly dropped in," noted Facebook user Jake Tadla. Online buzz on Chic-Boy 'scandal'

Buzz about the incident also went up on Twitter, with "Chicboy" trending briefly on Monday night:

Libel case in the works In a Facebook message to GMA News Online, Chic-Boy management said they are refraining from issuing any further statements as they are currently filing a libel case against Bernardo.

A Facebook fan page dedicated to the incident was started on Facebook on Tuesday, and has gathered just over 400 fans in the few hours since it was created.

Also, barely two days since it was posted, Bernardo's photo album has been reshared on Facebook over 7,000 times as of Tuesday afternoon.

Readers' comments

However, in the wake of the online virality of Bernardo's photos and post, many netizens are saying that the dispute could have been quickly and easily resolved with an apology on Chic-Boy's management's part.

In a comment on this article (click here to jump down to the comment section), GMA News Online reader "FireEngine" said that the incident is a "bad lesson in PR."

"They should have rewarded her with free meals and apologies. What's the cost of that compared to the bad publicity? Now they have to figure a way to spin all this publicity to their favor. Filing libel is the wrong way to go," he reasons. "The issue isn't really the bug ending up in a meal (which happens all the time, in more disgusting ways, in fastfoods and fine dining restos)... the issue is how management handled the situation... I agree with FireEngine, this could have been solved with a free desert and an apology," enjoined commenter "Jules".

"difficult to believe who is saying the truth. but for the restaurant's side, they shouldn't act that way. too aggressive, defensive and plain rude. if this happened in the US, the incident would go viral in days and people would go wild in anger if an establishment acted the way Chickboy did," added commenter "rageangst".

Some commenters believed that the case may simply have been blown out of proportion:

"I think nakita talaga nya ung creature sa dish, and I think nobody wanted that to happen, it's an accident... in my opinion, hindi na dapat kumalat ito kasi this could be just an isolated incident. Pero buong name ng restaurant ang napasama because of her post, so karapatan din ng company na balikan sya for the damage done," reasoned Lilith.

Expert analysis In an email to GMA News Online, PR expert Charlie Agatep, President and CEO of Euro RSCG Agatep PR, says that it would have been advisable for the restaurant to simply "apologize and act" —a strategy called the "AA formula", from the book Tongue Fu!: How to Deflect, Disarm, and Defuse Any Verbal Conflict, by PR guru Sam Horn.

According to Agatep, an enterprise confronted with a complaint must first apologize to the inconvenienced customer and then assure them that the complaint will be acted upon. In Chic-Boy's case, Agatep says that the restaurant manager could have said sorry to Bernardo for the caterpillar in her kangkong dish then offer to investigate the kitchen staff to see how such a thing could have happened.

"High emotions obviously prevailed [in the Chic-Boy incident]. But definitely the first thing I would have done is to apologize for the inconvenience and assure it will not happen again," he said. — TJD, GMA News

Tags: facebook, twitter, socialmedia, caterpillar, scandal