A restaurant owner is drawing waves of online praise with his response to the “selfish” influencers who ask him for free food.
The man, who goes by the username UnBassador on Twitter, explained that his family owns a restaurant on the Greek island of Kos.
Kos, known for its sandy beaches, is a popular tourist destination. As a result, UnBassaador said on Twitter that he receives “dozens” of messages from social media influencers each year.
In a now-viral post, UnBassador revealed how his family handles those messages, which almost always involve a request for free food.
UnBassador shared an example of a request from an influencer, who said they’d promote his business in exchange for free food.
The restaurant owner replied by explaining that he does not offer food in exchange for “promotion.” Instead, he charges influencers full price, then donates an equal amount of food to charity.
“Thank you very much, however our restaurant has a policy,” UnBassador wrote in a Reddit post expanding on his story. “We charge every influencer who wants to eat here normally, however we offer food of equal value to people in need instead.”
The restauranteur went on to tell the influencer that, by paying for their meal, they’d essentially be buying one for someone in need.
“In that way, we gain publicity from your posts, and you improve your brand by showing that you return something to the community,” he told the influencer.
Unfortunately, UnBassador said no one has ever taken him up on his deal. He added that they often don’t even respond to his message.
“Dear influencers: You are just making a fool of yourselves by trying to create a fake cosmopolitan lifestyle based on begging,” he added on Reddit.
The post drew thousands of responses on both Twitter and Reddit, with many praising UnBassador’s solution. Many users also slammed the “selfish” influencers who reject his deal.
“Wow. Really shows how the influencer culture is full of utterly selfish narcissists. These people really think that because they have an arbitrary amount of followers on social media, they’re so important that places will give them free s***? My god, it’s mind-numbingly pathetic,” one Reddit user wrote.
“Wow perfect response to this toxic vanity problem,” another added.
