On last week’s episode of Fox’s Kitchen Nightmares, Gordon Ramsey visited Amy’s Baking Company in Scottsdale, Ariz. But not even the loud-mouthed British chef could convince the stubborn (and, by some reviewer accounts, delusional) owner to change her ways.
The episode caught the attention of Redditors, who slammed the restaurant’s Facebook page with comments, triggering an epic social media meltdown. Owners Amy and Samy Bouzaglo posted status updates directed at the commenters, using NSFW language and all caps.
While most people who have witnessed a trolling in action know not to feed into it (especially while the caps lock is in use), the Bouzaglos seem to have failed that social media lesson.
The Facebook scuffle isn’t the restaurant’s first brawl with the Internet. In 2010, Bouzaglo got into a tiff with a Yelp reviewer in an exchange that made the local news.
That squabble did little to prevent Yelpers from continuing to post negative reviews.
The comment flooding and subsequent tirade raises an interesting question about the practice of Internet users ganging up — or trolling — on a small business. Is this a case of trolling used for good or did the commenters take it too far?
UPDATE, May 14, 9:07 p.m. EDT: The owners have since posted the following to the restaurant’s Facebook page. Users responded swiftly and accordingly; there were 8,918 comments at time of writing.
How Not to Use Social Media: Restaurant's Epic Facebook Meltdown
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