What I've Learned from the Amy's Baking Company Fiasco

In every viral thing that hits the world wide web, there’s something that reveals what’s either wrong or right about humanity. We can take that thing and learn something from it, more times than not, for the better. I think Arizona and the entire technological world got a big ole dose of that this week. Unless you’ve been living under a rock or just avoiding the internet like the plague for the past several days, you’ve probably heard of the Yelp/Facebook/Tumblr/Twitter firestorm that is Amy’s Baking Company.

It all started when the FOX show Kitchen Nightmares (a program which, honestly, I hadn’t heard of until now) aired its season finale on May 10th. Unlike other fix-up-this-business shows like Bar Rescue or Restaurant: Impossible, this series is hosted by Chef Gordon Ramsey. Ramsey’s popularity as a ferocious, relentless, ever-critiquing judge on Hell’s Kitchen has given him meme-worthy status across the web. So when the great culinary devil himself throws up his hands in defeat, everybody starts talking. Who could possibly out-shout, out-argue, out-ridiculous a guy like Ramsey? Samy and Amy Bouzaglo of Amy’s Baking Company, that’s who.

I came across the 2-part episode on Tumblr and, after reading the interesting commentary from other users, I watched the whole thing start to finish. What I saw left me astonished.

Not only can these people not take criticism, they can’t even fathom the idea that their eating establishment could produce anything short of perfection. When a patron made even a modest complaint about the food, the wait, or the service, Samy and Amy would immediately deny it and turn the blame on the customer instead of themselves. This rage was turned towards anyone, and I mean anyone, who said something negative about the business, from Yelp users who are apparently “internet haters” to Chef Ramsey whose criticism was wholly intended on helping their business gain positive feedback. All he was doing was reflecting the impression they’d given him back on themselves. The man was patient enough to wait over an hour and a half for dishes that weren’t even tasty or appetizing, polite enough to sit down and talk civilly with the owners after being shouted at by Amy and threatened by Samy. This little sit down became a shouting match between husband and wife, leaving Ramsey shaking his head and giving up wholly on his effort to help. Left unchanged by possibly the only man who could improve their image, Amy’s Baking Company gained an even worse reputation from customers and internet reviewers. And, blameless to the end, the owners turned their ranting fury on the entire internet community, using ALL CAPS and merciless name-calling on their Facebook page.

Needless to say, the Internet pretty much exploded in retaliation. Not only had these people insulted their patrons, their employees, and a world-known chef, they pretty much destroyed any hope of support from the general public. Yet the owners continue to pass the blame off to someone else. In a recent Facebook post, they insist, “Obviously our Facebook, YELP, Twitter and Website have been hacked. We are working with the local authorities as well as the FBI computer crimes unit to ensure this does not happen again. We did not post those horrible things. Thank You Amy &Samy.” No claim of responsibility in site.

I think one of the biggest lessons I got out of this is when to discern critics from “haters.” In Hell’s Kitchen, Chef Ramsey may bloody scream and terrorize his contestants with his commentary, but they use his fury as motivation to do better. Sure, sticking to your own intuition is great in the face of slander, but when you’re a business trying to build loyalty, listening to customer opinion is vital. Amy’s Baking Company serves as a great example of what happens when a business completely disregards “the customer is always right.” If the customer isn’t happy, they will spread the word. This leads to another significant lesson: the power of media on TV and online. Once an opinion is presented, it’s there to stay. Take responsibility for it. And finally, if your children are “trapped inside cat bodies,” you might just have a mental problem.