I was watching the reality TV show "The Restaurant" last night and watched the worst management in the history of business unfold before my eyes. When the show went to commercial, American Express proudly plastered Rocco and his Amex card on the screen and boasted how together with American Express Open, Rocco can meet the financial needs of his business. With his management skills, how will he stay in business? With the amount of money he burned off in just one episode, how will he ever pay back American Express? Stay tuned. CardKid
I don't belive a word what Rocco has to say about being broke. AX Open must be sposoring the whole show. Tommorow I am going to ask OPEN if I can open up 20 restaurants with thier help. If all goes well I can be a pimp like Rocco. I think when the restaurant goes BK, we should all help him on the board. What do you guys think?
One must not forget that this is an entertainment program, after all. I would hazard a guess that about 10% of what is shown on TV consists of "reality." The rest is people mugging for the camera and taking "advice" from directors and/or outright staged incidents. If the show does represent the reality of the situation, which is a big if, I agree that this venture will go down fast and hard.
LOL...and still laughing. I think Rocco needs to get real chefs, change the menu, get rid of the paper baskets and lower his pricing. He has national coverage (free advertising) and serves up food my dog wouldn't eat. If you were Rocco, what credit line would you start with? I'd knock on BOFA's door. CardKid
I don't think it's staged or guided in any way. It could be that some of the employees play up to the camera a little. Other than that, it seems pretty natural to me. I'm wondering if Amex is the only line he's using. It it is, Amex must have given him (with ease) a six figure LOC. CardKid
I read in an article that Amex gave him all sorts of preferential treatment for product placement. If you notice, the OPEN for business sign on the door has the Amex slogan in the corner, on the recent show they purposely had the HEY LETS GET AN AMEX LOC discussion, and the credit cards they showed on the most recent show were all AMEX and prominently displayed (closeup shots of an Amex card in a water glass, etc.). Just FYI.
That's interesting. I wonder if Amex is footing the bill or a good portion of it for the ad placement. If that's the case Subway should accept Amex and have them foot the advertising bill. They have a far greater presence than Rocco. I also noticed that Rocco's driving a Jeep. I wonder how much of the cost Jeep's absorbing. CardKid
What channel is this program on??? I HAVE NEVER SEEN IT...and with my DIRECTV I have "TONS" of channels to SURF!!!
The same article went as far to say that beer vendors had negotiated for airtime of boxes of their beer being rolled into the restaurant, or closeup shots of their logos at the bar. I guess *everything* has a price, LOL. But it kinda mimics the way product placement has become a new marketing strategy...with COKE billboards in driving-based video games, or specific product placement in the movies we go to see. I keep hearing that as internet popup ads' success is dwindling that the more 'subliminal' marketing is really taking off. Food for thought. I have to admit that I like watching that show though...it is scary/interesting to see the inner workings of a restaurant. I have worked as a waiter but it was YEARS ago...
George, It's on NBC, Sunday evening, depending on your time zone. It's a show about a chef that opens up an eatery in NY and the challenges he faces (from staff mismanagement to customer no-service). It's a "reality" TV show. American Express is plastered everywhere except the perfect place: the Menu http://www.nbc.com/nbc/The_Restaurant/menu.shtml. CardKid
The way he just said "We'll just get an Amex Open Line of Credit to hold us over" was horribly staged and made me sick. I doubt he has to pay back anything, I'm sure it's all payment for product placement.
i have to chime in on this subject. I absolutely love this show, the same way some people love to watch a train wreck, and then look at the bloody bodies being carried out, and then listen to the sad stories about all the families who lost loved ones in the wreck. I worked in the restaurant industry for 6 yrs, and DH for 12 (in management mostly) so we can relate to this show. I cant tell you how many times we look at each other while watching and say 'I'm so glad we got out of the business'. I don't care how much AMEX paid me, I'd never open another restaurant. But still its mesmerizing for us to watch other people working in that industry, suffering, stressing out, not making any money, going out and spending all the money they made that night, etc. ahh, it brings back memories. *shudder* side note: I thought Rocco was cute until I got to know him. what a conceited male slut.
