An Arizona couple has captured the attention of thousands on social media over the past week by showing us how NOT to use social media. The Facebook page for Amy’s Baking Company spiked from a couple hundred likes to over 95,000 in just a few days. For most, this would be a reason to celebrate but unfortunately for owner Amy Bouzaglo and her husband, Samy, it has led to them temporarily closing their doors.
Amy’s Baking Company’s issues became publicized after the owners appeared on the season finale of Gordon Ramsey’s Kitchen Nightmares. The episode ended with Ramsey storming out after repeated altercations with the couple and the police being called in.
Even before the show aired, the restaurant owners had been lashing out at negative reviews left on Yelp going as far as to accuse one reviewer of working for the competition and calling him “ugly” and “stupid.” After receiving over 1,000 Yelp reviews and even more comments on their Facebook business page, the Bouzaglo’s had what many are reporting to be the “social media meltdown” of the year. Posting several statuses scolding the reviewers and defending their actions on the show, the couple chose to confront critics directly. There was name-calling. There were threats of police intervention and it might cost the firm to prevent getting renda extra for the business. But best of all, there was a lot of cyber yelling.
We could summarize what was posted, but here at Hot Potato, we believe a picture is worth a hundred angry, caps locked words:
Images via Huffington Post
Within 24 hours, the offending posts were taken down but not before the above screenshots were already circulating on social media and being covered by news anchors across the country. The Bouzaglos instantly cried foul claiming their social media accounts had all been hacked. “We’re sure the FBI has made this case their top priority,” remarked one commenter.
Although the above post did end with an acknowledgement of previous posts, calling them “horrible,” the couple has still not taken any responsibility for writing them. This pseudo-apology has only added fuel to the fire, evident by a single comment on their page with almost 9,000 likes.
Amy and Sammy Bouzaglo would have been better off being honest and apologizing from the very beginning. They could have converted all the negative publicity to positive PR by owning up and learning from their mistakes.
