Influencers are still asking for free food, despite global pandemic

Australian food critic John Lethlean has taken to social media to reveal that brazen influencers are still asking for free food, despite the coronavirus pandemic plunging the restaurant industry into crisis.

This comes as Business Insider reported that one in five US restaurants could suffer permanent damage as a result of the pandemic.

Lethlean is shaming the influencers who are still asking for free food with the hashtag #couscousforcomment, and it's clear from his posts that he is taking no prisoners during this difficult time.

He captioned this brazen influencer's request for a freebie: "Timing is everything #couscousforcomment."

In another exchange, Lethlean decided to name and shame the influencer, captioning these screenshots: "Ah look. It's our old friend @harryjcook offering some valuable marketing exposure to wine merchants @pnvmerchants #couscousforcomment. They don't seem too impressed by the deal."

Needless to say, social media users were unimpressed by influencers trying to bag themselves a freebie during the global pandemic.

One commenter wrote: "Get 12 empty bottles = pee in them - seal them and send them to him."

A second remarked: "What a freeloader !!! should be ashamed of himself."

A third added: "At a time like this I have never been so sick of these well-off influencers and their panhandling. In an industry brought to its knees, in an economy that is going to pieces. Businesses need people to support them as much as they can, and pay for the things they want. If there was ever a time to [ask] for free things, it isn't now."

In an interview with Bored Panda, Lethlean opened up about the situation, saying: "As a restaurant reviewer with 23 years experience, the notion that these people 'review' makes me sick."

Lethlean said he is particularly concerned about how susceptible some businesses might be to influencers too if they don't understand how the process works.

He said: "They are susceptible to bluff and bravado. I can see how those who are marginal from a profit perspective might believe this is a reasonable quid pro quo."

He said some restaurant runners "are not in a position to analyze the impact of this so-called 'influence' and they don't think about what it may or may not do to their brands."

Lethlean said the Australian restaurant industry was doing "good" until the pandemic happened. He said: "It was fiercely competitive, oversupplied with providers but too expensive, partly attributable to Australia's employment laws and penalty rates."