Proving there's not such thing as bad publicity, a local coffee shop has issued a hilarious comeback after being labelled 'overpriced' and 'pretentious'. After receiving a customer review calling it a 'hipster cliché', the team behind Yas Bean, an independent coffee spot in Macclesfield, took to social media to poke fun at the negativity.
The three-star review, which was posted to Google called the spot on Buxton Road an "Overpriced, beautiful but undeservingly pretentious little coffee shop on the Macclesfield school run." The review also added: "Coffee wasn't even good. Hipster cliche."
Rather than shy away from the criticism, Yas Bean responded earlier this week by posting a video entitled 'A Festive Google Review' on its Instagram account of its team, dressed in a 'hipster' fashion with a screenshot of the negative review emblazoned over it. The video, which was soundtracked by the song 'You're A Mean One, Mr. Grinch', also includes the staff members walking outside and posing with a chalkboard outside the shop with the words "hipster cliché" written in white chalk.
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The tongue-in-cheeky post received over a thousand likes and more than 100 comments, with many throwing their support behind the coffee shop. Arighi Bianchi, a local interiors and furniture store wrote: "*stops what we’re doing to come and get some hipster cliché coffee*", while another added, "Maccs revival is reliant on independent businesses…… the more ‘hipster’ vibe establishments and shops that open the better!! Keep doing what you do".
A third person added: "Wow! Imagine being in such a crappy mood that you unapologetically forward this crappy vibe publicly through crappy reviews. Surely there are several moments in that journey where you can go ‘nah-let’s not’. Team yas bean is anything but a cliché."
The shop on Buxton Road, founded by Mika Johnson and his husband Dan Hardman, also recently hit out an the opening of a third Costa Coffee in Cheshire market town and called for people to support small, local businesses rather than large coffee chains. After posting it's latest video in response to the three-star review, yesterday, Yas Bean shared another hilarious message, this time using it as an opportunity to remind customers of its festive opening times
This time, the whole team posed by the chalk board, posing seriously in the first shot and smiling in the second. The post shared to Instagram read: "A FESTIVE Google Review. please feel free to leave your own. -Team Yas Bean x.
"Merry Christmas from the Cliché Hipsters. We are very busy elves this week offering our standard 3 star service. There are only a few shopping days left so make sure you swing by to grab an overpriced, pretentious coffee to power you on.
"Check out our opening hours below - you'll be positively thrilled to see we ARE OPEN between Christmas and New Years.
We do this for YOU. (Also because we want to go to Lanzarote for Dan's 40th next year.) "
The post was met by a similar response from followers and supporters, with many responding with their own jokes and wishing them a happy Christmas. One person wrote: "What was life before YAS BEAN? The shop, the socials, the SAVAGE Micah! We love you."
A second person added: "Your content makes us happy every day", while a third shared, "Happy Chrimbo! You guys are very funny!"
Last month, following the opening of a third Costa Coffee in the town, the owners of Yas Bean took to social media to express their thoughts, with a post titled 'Costaliving. The post lamented the arrival of the chain and urged followers to support independent businesses.
Mika and his husband Dan started the business by selling coffee out of a gazebo and providing neighbours with hot drinks during the pandemic before it became a weekly market trading out of a horsebox in the depths of winter 2020 at a church. They opened Yas Bean in August 2021 on Buxton Road in Macclesfield.
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