Jamieson May, a newbie influencer from Melbourne, Australia, with less than 9,000 followers on TikTok saw her rant about “rude” responses from a restaurant she wanted to collaborate with dramatically backfire. The establishment has since doubled down on their refusal to work with her.
Taking to her TikTok page on April 14, Jamieson posted a video of nearly three minutes to express her frustration with the vegetarian restaurant Patsy’s located in Melbourne.
The self-described travel lifestyle fashion content creator said in the clip, which amassed 24,900 views: “I received the most horrible message yesterday from a restaurant wanting to work with them and I need to make you aware so you guys never work with them and know your standard.”
The TikToker explained that she had used a template she had sent to other restaurants and companies she wanted to work with, outlining what she thought the business was missing.
“So I sent a 1 to this restaurant,” Jamieson said. “Now I already sent other ones, I’ve never had a problem with it ever.”
But the restaurant, unimpressed by the influencer’s 15,600 followers on her main Instagram page and even fewer on her food-dedicated Instagram page, which has 1,100 followers, wrote back: “You don’t seem to have any followers, maybe you should approach us when you have over 100k,” as per a screenshot Jamieson shared in her video.
Newbie influencer Jamieson May faced backlash and criticism after her rant about a restaurant’s “rude” response
The screenshot showed the digital creator’s response: “Sorry, but that is extremely rude.”
Patsy’s Instagram account rebutted: “Perhaps… but you are pretending to be influential on social media and that’s just not true and rather than me just saying that you are lying and pretending to be beneficial to our business…
“I just said come back when you’re actually able to do what you think we should engage you to do.
“Is it rude to question something that is obviously not true?”
The screenshot further showed that Jamieson blocked the restaurant.
“I’m absolutely gobsmacked,” the TikToker said. “I had no words, I was actually disgusted that someone could say that to another person.”
Jamieson stated that Patsy’s lacked an understanding of marketing principles, arguing that engagement and reach were more important metrics than follower count.
“I was just disgusted in the way that they said it,” she emphasized. “I think that’s what actually pissed me off more like the fact that they were so unprofessional about it.”
The content creator concluded: “So I want no other creator to work with them.
“But I’m disgusted. Never, ever again.”
However, Jamieson’s attempt to garner support backfired, as she faced a flood of criticism. Consequently, she disabled her comments.
Jamieson wanted to collaborate with the restaurant, which in turn reinforced their refusal to work with her
Image credits: jamiesonmay
“I just can’t believe that someone else in the professional industry of marketing and having their own business would say this to another human being,” she wrote in the caption of her clip.
The TikToker added: “Your follower count does not define you!
“You might have 10x better content than someone with 1 million followers!!
“I wanted to create this video to let all other content creators know that this is extremely unprofessional and disgusting.”
@jamiesonmayyy I just can’t believe that someone else in the professional industry of marketing and having there own business would say this to another human being ❤️🩹 Your follower count does not define you! You might have 10x better content then someone with 1 million followers!! I wanted to create this video to let all other content creators know that this is extremely unprofessional and disgusting. – #melbournerestaurants #melbournerestaurant #contentcreator #melbournefood #exposingthetruth #exposingfooditem #exposingrestaurants #contentcreatortips ♬ original sound – jamieson may 🧚🏼
Jamieson has since told News.com.au: “When I first outed the restaurant on TikTok, it reached the wrong audience of non-creators and influencers who didn’t understand what was happening.
“People sent extremely rude comments that I am just an ‘entitled influencer’ who just wants ‘free’ stuff and I am complaining about it all.
“I have worked with many restaurants and other businesses over the last four years and I have never experienced such rudeness. I was in shock.”
Patsy’s, owned by restaurateurs Mathew Guthrie and Clinton Trevisi, however, defended its “blunt” response.
The restaurant cited Jamieson’s low follower count
Mathew told the Australian news outlet: “I think judging from her reaction to me being blunt about her unsolicited marketing reach out, she was surprised that we were not interested in working with her.
“Obviously the reason we did not want to collaborate with her is quite easy to understand when you glance through her profiles on various sites.
“Her followers are not really people that we have in the venue often and probably not the market that we are looking to engage with.”
The chefs, who own a string of popular restaurants in Victoria, Australia, stressed that while they didn’t want to “add to the pile on,” they suspected her video was a marketing tactic for her personal brand, News.com.au reported on Tuesday (May 21).
Mathew said: “I think she was just hoping to increase her visibility with these outrage posts.
“It sort of has worked already but I am not sure how it will be able to be monetized as marketing.”
The backlash to Jamieson’s gripe came in hard and fast, and while she turned off comments due to the nasty nature of many of them, she told News.com.au that the suggestion she only wanted a “freebie” wasn’t true.
She told the publication: “When I first reached out to them, my message was a simple direct message that said, ‘Hi! My name is Jamieson May and I am a UGC Creator!
“‘I would love to create some content for your business.’
“I never asked for any free services or free things but they bluntly responded with their 100k comment.”
“I had no words, I was actually disgusted that someone could say that to another person,” Jamieson said
“I completely understand that they want specific influencers with high follower count, which is perfectly okay because they want it for exposure, but there is a much more polite and professional way to get say it.”
Incidents seeing influencers attempting to put restaurants they want to collaborate with on blast have been reported before.
Back in March, an entitled influencer demanded a free meal from Manchester-based restaurant Lucky Ramen.
Nevertheless, the eatery slammed the bizarre query, sharing a screenshot exposing a message filled with anger from the influencer asserting their entitlement to free food based on their career.
At the time, the person in charge of Lucky Ramen’s social media account didn’t name the spoilt influencer, but it did refer to them as a “blue tick superstar asking for a free feast in exchange for an Insta post.”
Viewers were left divided
