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Lumberjack Bonanza posted:Isn't that the place that gives you baskets of peanuts and encourages you to just toss the shells anywhere? I'm sure the employees really appreciate that policy. Yes. It seems like putting an empty bucket for the shells next to the full bucket of peanuts would make everybody's life easier, but I guess they like spending the extra time cleaning up. I don't really get a thrill from throwing garbage on the ground, but I guess that appeals to some people.
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Mar 25, 2015 20:51
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It's hard to call Joe's Crab Shack bad with marketing; they're aggressively targeting the "horrible wastes of human flesh" demographic and succeeding. At some level someone realized there was a niche market for terrible tacky poo poo and people who love it so much that they will pay exhorbitant prices to keep it afloat, enough to make up for whoever gets driven away by the over-the-top obnoxiousness and lovely food.
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Mar 25, 2015 20:54
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A couple years ago I worked at a small specialty coffee shop where a macchiato was a shot of espresso with just a little bit of smooth, steamed milk. (This is apparently the traditional version of the drink? I don't know, I'm not as into the whole coffee thing as my coworkers were.) The amount of people who came in asking for a "venti caramel macchiato" drove me completely batshit. We didn't even have 20 ounce cups. I generally tried to be nice and either (a) get them their stupid caramel latte or (b) explain the difference between a Starbucks macchiato and a traditional macchiato before doing (a) but most of my coworkers preferred to pour them one of our macchiatos and get all smug and self-righteous when the customer complained. Actually come to think of it my coworkers were the assholes there. Still. Just call it a latte Starbucks, christ.
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Mar 25, 2015 20:55
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Gabriel Pope posted:It's hard to call Joe's Crab Shack bad with marketing; they're aggressively targeting the "horrible wastes of human flesh" demographic and succeeding. True, they did have the "haha it sounds like everyone's telling a girl to take her shirt off" commercial.
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Mar 25, 2015 20:57
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Gabriel Pope posted:It's hard to call Joe's Crab Shack bad with marketing; they're aggressively targeting the "horrible wastes of human flesh" demographic and succeeding. At some level someone realized there was a niche market for terrible tacky poo poo and people who love it so much that they will pay exhorbitant prices to keep it afloat, enough to make up for whoever gets driven away by the over-the-top obnoxiousness and lovely food. The true crime of Joe's Crab Shack is that it inherently makes you want some crab, yet offers no solution if you have any sense of self-respect or taste.
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Mar 25, 2015 20:58
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The only place with a crazy routine that pulls it off is Margaritaville. Because it involves a fake volcano and sexy mermaid. Also they don't have the servers do it so you still get their food (which is actually pretty great, the coconut shrimp are A+).
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Mar 25, 2015 20:59
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RandomFerret posted:One of my favourite things about being on the internet is peoples' reactions when they find out what an actual philly cheesesteak is for the first time. You are literally the devil if you don't get your cheesesteaks with provolone.
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Mar 25, 2015 21:11
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LITERALLY A BIRD posted:A couple years ago I worked at a small specialty coffee shop where a macchiato was a shot of espresso with just a little bit of smooth, steamed milk. (This is apparently the traditional version of the drink? I don't know, I'm not as into the whole coffee thing as my coworkers were.) The amount of people who came in asking for a "venti caramel macchiato" drove me completely batshit. We didn't even have 20 ounce cups. I generally tried to be nice and either (a) get them their stupid caramel latte or (b) explain the difference between a Starbucks macchiato and a traditional macchiato before doing (a) but most of my coworkers preferred to pour them one of our macchiatos and get all smug and self-righteous when the customer complained. We have a local shop around here and every time I've been in the employees are assholes. I think it's part of the charm? They are in the art district of a shithole Ohio city so maybe it's their gimmick.
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Mar 25, 2015 21:17
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Len posted:We have a local shop around here and every time I've been in the employees are assholes. I think it's part of the charm? They are in the art district of a shithole Ohio city so maybe it's their gimmick. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O1vY2J9FTnE
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Mar 25, 2015 21:39
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Speaking of employee dancing, last year I was in New Orleans with some friends and we had to stop to use the bathroom. The only nearby bar (we were off Bourbon St.) was the Coyote Ugly. It's Tuesday night and the place is completely empty save for the bouncer and two customers who were chatting with the single bartender. This wouldn't be strange EXCEPT the bartender was idly dancing on the bar while talking. Just sort of swaying and stepping back and forth while talking with what I presumed were her friends visiting on a slow night. I get that that if you're the Coyote Ugly the hook is that you have hot bartenders and girls dancing on the bar, but what's the point if there's nobody in the bar?
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Mar 25, 2015 21:40
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Big Grunty Secret posted:I get that that if you're the Coyote Ugly the hook is that you have hot bartenders and girls dancing on the bar, but what's the point if there's nobody in the bar? Minimum Boner Quota
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Mar 25, 2015 21:43
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LITERALLY A BIRD posted:A couple years ago I worked at a small specialty coffee shop where a macchiato was a shot of espresso with just a little bit of smooth, steamed milk. (This is apparently the traditional version of the drink? I don't know, I'm not as into the whole coffee thing as my coworkers were.) The amount of people who came in asking for a "venti caramel macchiato" drove me completely batshit. We didn't even have 20 ounce cups. I generally tried to be nice and either (a) get them their stupid caramel latte or (b) explain the difference between a Starbucks macchiato and a traditional macchiato before doing (a) but most of my coworkers preferred to pour them one of our macchiatos and get all smug and self-righteous when the customer complained. I got turned onto good coffee when I was stationed on the Balkans. Euro/turkish coffee is great, Starbucks is poo poo.
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Mar 25, 2015 21:43
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Verus posted:You are literally the devil if you don't get your cheesesteaks with provolone. I went to school in Philadelphia, which is also where I got my first cheesesteak. When I moved back to NYC, I ordered a cheesesteak at a bodega, and they gave one to me made with American cheese, lettuce, and mayonnaise (edit: and tomato). 
YeahTubaMike has a new favorite as of 22:11 on Mar 25, 2015 |
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Mar 25, 2015 22:08
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A friend of mine is visiting the US for the first time at the moment, and the indignant texts he's sending home about how unbelievably terrible the coffee is are hilarious. Caffeine is a hell of a drug.
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Mar 25, 2015 22:09
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Remember how we were JUST (like, half a page ago) making fun of Chicago for being bitchy and defensive of their fattening regional shitfood?
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Mar 25, 2015 22:10
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LITERALLY A BIRD posted:A couple years ago I worked at a small specialty coffee shop where a macchiato was a shot of espresso with just a little bit of smooth, steamed milk. (This is apparently the traditional version of the drink? I don't know, I'm not as into the whole coffee thing as my coworkers were.) The amount of people who came in asking for a "venti caramel macchiato" drove me completely batshit. We didn't even have 20 ounce cups. I generally tried to be nice and either (a) get them their stupid caramel latte or (b) explain the difference between a Starbucks macchiato and a traditional macchiato before doing (a) but most of my coworkers preferred to pour them one of our macchiatos and get all smug and self-righteous when the customer complained. that's a caffe macchiato, the kind they sell at starbucks is a latte macchiato, they're both macchiatos and the starbucks one is different-but-not-wrong because it's a different noun with the same adjective and they just decided to use the adjective as the short descriptor for maximal confusion
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Mar 25, 2015 22:20
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Big Grunty Secret posted:Speaking of employee dancing, last year I was in New Orleans with some friends and we had to stop to use the bathroom. The only nearby bar (we were off Bourbon St.) was the Coyote Ugly. It's Tuesday night and the place is completely empty save for the bouncer and two customers who were chatting with the single bartender. This wouldn't be strange EXCEPT the bartender was idly dancing on the bar while talking. Just sort of swaying and stepping back and forth while talking with what I presumed were her friends visiting on a slow night. OOh gently caress. I went to a Coyote Ugly. At 1am on a Monday. It was weird and gross. The bathrooms were covered in puke and poo poo. And my buddy ordered a body shot from a girl because it was his 21st, all she did was set the shot glass down on her belly and gave it to him. Not really a body shot. But it did cost him 35 bucks! So yeah!
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Mar 25, 2015 22:22
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When i worked frozen yogurt the boss tried to pull the dancing employees poo poo. It rained all summer and not once did I dance like an ape for him. gently caress that rear end in a top hat.
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Mar 25, 2015 22:33
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InediblePenguin posted:that's a caffe macchiato, the kind they sell at starbucks is a latte macchiato, they're both macchiatos and the starbucks one is different-but-not-wrong because it's a different noun with the same adjective and they just decided to use the adjective as the short descriptor for maximal confusion that makes sense, and also, goddamn you starbucks.
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Mar 25, 2015 22:53
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as a child i drank 'coffee' that was actually just a bit of coffee mixed in with hot milk, glad to know i've been extremely cultured since the age of 3.
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Mar 25, 2015 22:59
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Lumberjack Bonanza posted:The true crime of Joe's Crab Shack is that it inherently makes you want some crab, yet offers no solution if you have any sense of self-respect or taste. The true crime of Joe's Crab Shack is that they're actually managing to pull business in Maryland.  There's an actual crabshack a quarter mile down the road!
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Mar 25, 2015 23:17
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I'm guessing from context that Joe's doesn't actually offer crab? That reminds me of a cheap sandwich place near my old apartment. Let me paint a picture of "cheap" without using the food as an example: they had framed puzzles on the walls. The ordering counter featured a large photo of hot coffee in a mug, so one day I asked for some. "We don't sell coffee."
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Mar 25, 2015 23:35
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mamelon posted:That reminds me of a cheap sandwich place near my old apartment. Let me paint a picture of "cheap" without using the food as an example: they had framed puzzles on the walls. This is beauty
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Mar 26, 2015 00:13
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mamelon posted:I'm guessing from context that Joe's doesn't actually offer crab? They sell crab like how Red Lobster sells lobster. And their advertising/employee tshirts often roll back to the crabs/pubic lice double entendre.  "I got crabs from Joe!"
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Mar 26, 2015 00:14
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Wow, the Texas Roadhouse near me isn't like that. I've probably been there fifty times because it's one of the few reasonably priced sit-down restaurants in the town I work in. I have never once seen a dance routine. They do have a lovely song that they sing for people's birthdays, and that happens at least once every time I'm there. It's short, though. I really hate being in a place with cloth loving napkins and hearing a line of clapping, singing servers coming anywhere near me. It is upsetting to the digestion and feels pretty degrading to the staff. This is pretty much every restaurant now, though, sadly. It's your Birthday Yee HAW
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Mar 26, 2015 00:34
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Trent posted:It is upsetting to the digestion lol
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Mar 26, 2015 01:09
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Just saw a Pepsi max commercial that ripped off the scene from Fight Club where Edward Norton beats himself up in his bosses office. gently caress them and their unoriginality, Pepsi Max is gross anyhow and I'm glad Mt.Dew Kickstart failed. I have no investment in the company at all but their commercials annoy me and I get pleasure in seeing Kickstart being discounted and discounted at my local stores and they cant get rid of it.
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Mar 26, 2015 02:14
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Pepsi max is amazing, tastes way better than diet pepsi. The commercials for that and Dr. Pepper 10 make me embarrassed to like them though. "Its not for woman" is such a terrible slogan.
Cage has a new favorite as of 02:24 on Mar 26, 2015 |
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Mar 26, 2015 02:22
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Besesoth posted:The true crime of Joe's Crab Shack is that they're actually managing to pull business in Maryland. Not in the landlocked counties! Also Pepsi Max is delicious.
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Mar 26, 2015 03:08
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Bro Nerd Alpha posted:Just saw a Pepsi max commercial that ripped off the scene from Fight Club where Edward Norton beats himself up in his bosses office. gently caress them and their unoriginality, Pepsi Max is gross anyhow and I'm glad Mt.Dew Kickstart failed. I have no investment in the company at all but their commercials annoy me and I get pleasure in seeing Kickstart being discounted and discounted at my local stores and they cant get rid of it. Kickstart doesn't seem to have failed at all though? It's even in the soda fountains at my local Taco Bells now.
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Mar 26, 2015 03:10
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dpbjinc posted:Goon: I'm hungry. I'll go to a diner! I'll have a small ginger ale, please. This example is inaccurate because there's no goddamn way a goon would ask for a small  Kugyou no Tenshi posted:True, they did have the "haha it sounds like everyone's telling a girl to take her shirt off" commercial. Yeah, but wouldn't you say Hardees/Carl's Jr. has that demographic down pat? I mean, that's basically all their commercials are at this point.
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Mar 26, 2015 03:30
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Bro Nerd Alpha posted:Just saw a Pepsi max commercial that ripped off the scene from Fight Club where Edward Norton beats himself up in his bosses office. gently caress them and their unoriginality, Pepsi Max is gross anyhow and I'm glad Mt.Dew Kickstart failed. I have no investment in the company at all but their commercials annoy me and I get pleasure in seeing Kickstart being discounted and discounted at my local stores and they cant get rid of it. Kickstart hasn't failed, I see people drink it all the time, and I also drink it 
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Mar 26, 2015 03:49
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REAL MUSCLE MILK posted:as a child i drank 'coffee' that was actually just a bit of coffee mixed in with hot milk, glad to know i've been extremely cultured since the age of 3. Ha! Me too. Really, smart of Starbucks to tap the entire market of non-coffee drinkers by offering a line of dessert drinks. Was just at my local snob-house drinking a cappuccino today and as I was leaving a man standing outside the door was complaining into his phone that he wanted a "frap" but the barista told him they didn't make blended drinks. Then he said something that conveyed his puzzlement that not all coffee shops make blended ice drinks and that somehow the roaster here was inferior because of said lack of frozen treats. Honestly, I don't know how a barista can convey they don't have those things without sounding snobby. It's just an awkward situation.
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Mar 26, 2015 04:07
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coffee
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Mar 26, 2015 04:25
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Trent posted:I really hate being in a place with cloth loving napkins and hearing a line of clapping, singing servers coming anywhere near me. It is upsetting to the digestion lol how big a child are you
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Mar 26, 2015 06:20
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Trent posted:They do have a lovely song that they sing for people's birthdays, and that happens at least once every time I'm there. It's short, though. I really hate being in a place with cloth loving napkins and hearing a line of clapping, singing servers coming anywhere near me. It is upsetting to the digestion and feels pretty degrading to the staff. This is pretty much every restaurant now, though, sadly. Every restaurant? Do you only go to child-friendly chains or is this actually something that real restaurants are doing?
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Mar 26, 2015 07:12
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Tiggum posted:Every restaurant? Do you only go to child-friendly chains or is this actually something that real restaurants are doing? A lot of big chain restaurants do this. The worst are the Pappa's restaurants. Specifically Pappasitos. Their song is the most annoying and it's in a moderately pricy (for Mexican food) restaurant. It's he absolute worst.
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Mar 26, 2015 07:20
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I'm fascinated by differences between different places in the world, especially the UK and the US. I always figured Starbucks in America must do their coffee totally differently from the way the Starbucks here do theirs since I've seen folk on SA in the past saying they'd take a Starbucks coffee over a McDonalds coffee, given the choice. I can't think of anyone I know here who would ever prefer a cold, watery Starbucks coffee to a semi-decent coffee-machine coffee from McDonalds. I don't believe it's a snobby thing either; I genuinely think that maybe the Starbucks in America don't make their coffee as badly as the ones here do. This thread is making me doubt that though... Also the singing and dancing thing is blowing my mind. Even if it's just children's restaurants, how do parents not cringe and feel uncomfortable and awkward the whole time? How do these places ever get any customers if they do that poo poo? Then again, I'm an uptight Brit, so I like the the idea of a smile and even a bit of banter from staff, but the idea of trying to eat a meal where someone is dancing or ordering ice-cream where the server is singing makes my skin want to slide right off my body.
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Mar 26, 2015 10:11
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Rain Temple posted:Even if it's just children's restaurants, how do parents not cringe and feel uncomfortable and awkward the whole time? They don't. They cringe and feel uncomfortable and awkward the whole time. I don't think many kids enjoy it, either. I've definitely seen a child burst into tears from all the attention on more than one occasion. 
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Mar 26, 2015 10:21
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Ah yeah, that's what I was just thinking after I posted that - I can't imagine kids getting anything out of it either. I guess places like that only get new customers and not repeat customers. I can't see anyone walking into a place that did that if they actually advertised the fact either, I guess that's what I'm trying to say. It just seems like a feature that's specifically designed to detract business. Then again, so do a lot of the things in the Dumb Moves In Marketing thread, granted.
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Mar 26, 2015 10:30
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