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That Hilarious Guy Fieri Restaurant Review Has Over 45,000 Facebook Shares

Josh Wolford — Fri, 16 Nov 2012 20:10:46 +0000

In what has to be one of the most viral reviews of all time, a New York Times restaurant review has hit a ridiculous number of shares on Facebook. Today, the social network announced that “As Not Seen on TV,” the uncompromising teardown of Guy Fieri’s new Times Square restaurant, has over 45,000 shares across the site.

I know I’ve seen at least a dozen of my friends post the article. Funny photos and memes can get thousands of shares on Facebook – even hundreds of thousands (just ask George Takei). But for an article to get this kind of viral reach is pretty unusual.

The whole review, written by Pete Wells as a series of questions to owner Guy Fieri, is a giant f*ck you to the whole food network celebrity chef culture. Or maybe just the worst of it.

Facebook + Media1 hour ago

This viral review has now been shared more than 45,000 times on Facebook.

Restaurant Review: Guy’s American Kitchen & Bar in Times Square
What the food and service at Guy Fieri’s Times Square establishment conjure is pure bafflement, among other things.

Here are some select gems:

Why is one of the few things on your menu that can be eaten without fear or regret — a lunch-only sandwich of chopped soy-glazed pork with coleslaw and cucumbers — called a Roasted Pork Bahn Mi, when it resembles that item about as much as you resemble Emily Dickinson?

and…

When you hung that sign by the entrance that says, WELCOME TO FLAVOR TOWN!, were you just messing with our heads?

or how about…

What accounts for the vast difference between the Donkey Sauce recipe you’ve published and the Donkey Sauce in your restaurant? Why has the hearty, rustic appeal of roasted-garlic mayonnaise been replaced by something that tastes like Miracle Whip with minced raw garlic? And when we hear the words Donkey Sauce, which part of the donkey are we supposed to think about?

and in closing…

Is the entire restaurant a very expensive piece of conceptual art? Is the shapeless, structureless baked alaska that droops and slumps and collapses while you eat it, or don’t eat it, supposed to be a representation in sugar and eggs of the experience of going insane?

Ouch. The article, while undeniably hilarious, is pretty mean-spirited. Guy has had some people come to his defense.

But that’s irrelevant. What’s relevant is that, at least according to popularity on Facebook, this review is one of the top food articles of the year.

Facebook Finally Adds Share Button to iOS, Android Apps

Josh Wolford — Thu, 15 Nov 2012 21:45:02 +0000

Yesterday, Facebook finally brought their share button to mobile, inserting it into the m.facebook.com interface. Facebook also told us that they would soon bring the share functionality to their mobile apps as well.

Soon was right. Facebook has just updated both their iOS and Android apps to include the share button for news feed stories.

“You can now use the Share button on News Feed stories from your phone whether you’re using the Facebook for Android app, the Facebook for iPhone and iPad app, or the Facebook mobile web site. This gives people a fast way to share stories with friends from their mobile phones, just as they can from their computers,” says Facebook.

The share button isn’t the only thing to ship with the v.5.2 update. Here’s the full list of what’s new:

New Share link to re-post stories from your news feed
Tag your friends in any post, comment or photo
Smileys, hearts and other emoji in messages
To sort your feed, tap the button next to News Feed in the left sidebar

To be honest, this was a long time coming. It’s been a much-requested feature for some time, and it’s good that Facebook finally made it a priority. Now, Facebook’s version of the “retweet” is available no matter where you are. Be prepared to see a lot more stories from outside your friend network.

Facebook Share Button Coming to Mobile Apps

Josh Wolford — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 21:52:18 +0000

Today we noticed that Facebook was testing a “share” button on their mobile site, allowing users to share their friends’ posts on-to-go for the first time. Surely one of users’ most-requested features, the share button is now appearing alongside the “like” and “comment” buttons on the bottom of stories in news feeds on m.facebook.com.

Facebook has confirmed to me that this is not just a test, and Facebook is rolling out the share button on the mobile site.

They also confirmed that the share button will be coming to both the iOS and Android apps as well.

Hallelujah. Not being able to share my incredibly witty friends’ incredibly witty statuses on mobile has been a drag, and i’m sure many users agree.

Facebook had previously stated that there were no technical impediments for launching a share button for mobile, they just hadn’t gotten around to it yet. It looks like they finally made it a priority.

More info on the way.

Facebook May Finally Let You Share Posts on Mobile

Josh Wolford — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 21:17:44 +0000

Your long-running nightmare of being unable to share your friends’ witty status updates while on the go may be coming to a close. Facebook is currently testing a “share” button on posts on their mobile site.

The share button is currently only visible on m.facebook.com and with no recent update, there’s still not a share option inside the mobile apps. But of course, testing a share button on the mobile site could mean that Facebook is at least considering adding the function to their iOS apps. Facebook has previously stated that there’s nothing really standing in the way of them allowing mobile users to share posts. It’s not some technical quagmire – they just haven’t done it yet.

The new share button now appears next to new, larger “like” and “comment” buttons under posts:

Having the ability to share posts must be near the top on the list of most-requested features, and frankly it’s surprising that it’s taken Facebook this long to make it a reality.

We’ve noticed that the share button isn’t showing up for all stories in the news feed, but sporadically across all types of posts. This could have something to do with privacy settings, or it could be a product of the test. I’ve reached out to Facebook and will update this article when I hear back.

Pinterest: Great Business Tool for Photographers

Mike Tuttle — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 22:08:46 +0000

One of the best “business” uses for Pinterest takes full advantage of the visual basis of the site. Photographers have been using Pinterest as an “inspiration board” to share with clients.

For example, in the past, if a photographer was tasked with shooting publicity photos for a rock band, she might pull tear sheets from magazines (Rolling Stone, etc). She might have scrapbooks she has collected over the years. Or, she might keep a library of books of her own to show clients. She would meet with the band and show them her ideas for the shoot.

Now, she has the world at her fingertips with the Internet. And Pinterest can help her show it to the band.

All she has to do is create a Pinterest board for that project and start pinning things to it. She can invite someone in the band, or the whole band – to join Pinterest where they can see her ideas, comment on them, discuss them, etc. She can even add them as collaborators on that board (or another) and get their own ideas.

This is what such a board might look like.

This is one great business use for Pinterest. There are tons more that do not exploit Pinterest directly for the sake of advertising and sales. Let’s hear about them in the comments.

Expedia Last Minute Deals : Give Away Your Work

Shawn Hess — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 13:36:08 +0000

Planning a trip seams fun in theory but I just never seem to get around to doing it. Wouldn’t it be nice if someone else just took care of it? Yes, It’s called a travel agent and they’re too expensive for me. Thankfully there is always someone else willing to my work, at least in this regard. Expedia is making deals, exclusive to your area, that someone else already researched and found the best price on. Basically they are live and emerging deals, available to book for a twelve hour window, then they are gone.

“In a sense, the millions of people who come to Expedia® are now serving as your own personal travel agent, helping you find the best and most popular deals from your home city,” said Joe Megibow, vice president and general manager, Expedia.com. “So many customers travel with Expedia every month that it puts us in a great position to deliver this type of service to our customers. With Last-Minute Deals, you can get the best deals available by letting everyone else do your research for you.”

The deals are part of a new program by Expedia titled ASAP (A Sudden Amazing Price).

Enjoy These 5 Mobile Apps This Labor Day Weekend

Manoj Jasra — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 14:25:35 +0000

Family reunions and quick getaways have become a Labor Day tradition for most people, but which apps work best for taking holiday trips? Grip’d.com spent several months testing various apps on each platform to see which ones make Gripd.com’s top five travel apps. If you have an iPhone, Blackberry or Android phone, here’s a quick rundown of the best 5 travel apps:

Weatherbug – The simplicity of Apple’s Weather app, but with a few extras for your phone. It’s the largest network of professional weather stations in the US and is the only source for truly live, local weather (as taken from their site).

BePut – enables users to share their whereabouts with people they want to find them. Users simply use the application to locate their exact position and with a touch of a button, have the opportunity to send an email or text message to the desired recipient with their exact location. The recipient gets a special FindMe Key which is secure. The only guaranteed way to not get lost.

Car Care & Roadside Emergencies – I don’t know about you, but I absolutely hate it when things don’t go according to the plan. You have this important presentation, and you end up with a flat tire in an express way. Or maybe you are trying to get home from a concert, and your car doesn’t start up. These situations happen all the time, and they usually tend to happen when you expect them the least. Now some of us have a knack for breaking and fixing things as far as cars are concerned.

Waze – Waze is a social mobile application that enables drivers to build and use real-time road intelligence. The service includes constantly-updated road maps, alerts on traffic and accidents, and data providing users with the fastest route to get to wherever they need to go. Map and traffic updates are automatically collected and generated as users drive with Waze activated, but drivers can also actively report and update other users with what’s happening on the road.

Shazam – In the car for hours and can’t figure out the song playing on the radio? When you hear a song and wonder what it is, Shazam is there with the answer. Hold your iPhone to the music and within seconds Shazam will tell you the artist and track name. You can even download the song through iTunes on your iPhone.

Comments

Why CMO’s Prefer Short Term Marketing Strategy In This Economic Climate

Frank Reed — Mon, 04 May 2009 14:38:25 +0000

AdAge reports the latest Spencer Stuart survey shows 300 CMO’s

(chief marketing officers) looking to survive the downturn by concentrating on short-term strategies at the expense of mid and long term outlooks. Even with this attitude they are able to say that they can emerge after the clouds break on this recession with the growth they all need. While the article charges these folks as traditionally optimistic this type of thinking appears to be more wishful than anything else.

Another Stuart survey showed that the average tenure of a CMO these days is 28 months so maybe this is why long and mid term growth strategies are more easily shelved. By the time a new CMO in a sizable organization gets their ‘sea legs’ half of that period could well be gone thus not leaving much time to anything but short term survival moves considering the TTL (time to live) these folks have.

Back to the survey

Sixty-four percent of survey respondents said they are measuring success differently in the economic downturn, focusing on controlling expense budgets (60%), retaining high-value customers (49%) and demonstrating positive return on marketing investments (48%). In other words, they are focused on sustaining rather than growing

If we take a look at the chart below however, there is the curious notion that amidst all of this cost cutting and customer retention is the need to gain in market share.

Gaining market share requires efforts that require budget and that budget is used to attract new customers which is usually a very different tactic than that needed to retain and grow current customers. CMO’s would like to have their cake and eat it too according to this but something needs to give.

This apparent ‘opposite ends of the spectrum’ mentality may explain why so many marketing efforts seem so haphazard. Marketers are always looking for new ways to reach customers and prospects but in today’s rapidly changing marketing world the flexibility required often comes at the expense of longer term efforts. Add to the mix the survival mode that this recession has put everyone in and you have an interesting recipe. Whether it is one for disaster or success will go a long way toward making that average tenure number for CMO’s go up or down.

Lisa Baird, CMO of the US Olympic Committee echoes this dilemma

“I don’t think you can ever give up on the strategic direction of an organization,” she said. “While there’s a need to be responsive in this environment, no doubt … nothing you do in the short term should conflict with or be inconsistent with your long-term strategy.”

So how are you handling the balancing act of keeping costs down, surviving the short-term mess and still keeping the future in sight? Is it possible or are we just being too optimistic?

Comments

French Photographer Gets Layer In Google Earth

Doug Caverly — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 18:27:53 +0000

A French photographer named Yann Arthus-Bertrand is famous for many things, including an “Earth from the Air” exhibit. It seems perfectly natural, then, that about 500 of his photographs have been used to create a new “Earth from Above” layer in Google Earth.

The pretty pictures were used with Arthus-Bertrand’s permission, but there’s much more to it than that. Google’s Rebecca Moore explains, “Each image is paired with thought-provoking statistics about the current environmental situation they depict. The facts and figures were put together by GoodPlanet.org, Yann’s non-profit organization established to promote environmental awareness and sustainable development.”

And although many of the developments we cover tend to be picked up by the American press, this one seems to interest a much larger audience – a query for “Google Yann Arthus-Bertrand” in Google Blog Search turns up more top-ranking results in French and Spanish than in English.

Google’s environmentally-friendly projects were once viewed as an oddity, but if anything, the company has participated in them with increasing frequency over time. Since Google’s market share and market cap have continued to grow, shareholders have no reason to complain, and the rest of us get to enjoy interesting offerings like the Yann Arthus-Bertrand layer.

November Search Share, A Poem

WebProNews Staff — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 15:33:09 +0000

Google picked up more than 65 percent of the US search market in November 2007, while Yahoo, Microsoft, and Ask all ceded a few tenths of a percent each in share.

By the figures from Hitwise
Google continues to rise.
Its search share reached 65.10 percent.

With declines at Yahoo,
MSN/Live and Ask.com too,
Their search share continued its descent.

Will a new search engine gain
On Google’s runaway train
Or is this something no one can fix?

Forty-six other search sites
May want to reach Google’s heights.
Their combined share percentage? 1.96.

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