Food bloggers say “NO” to eateries paying extra for top reviews

SINGAPORE: After a woman took to Facebook on Oct 4 to say that her eatery had been offered to be included in a popular food blog for the price of S$2,300 to be part of a “Best place to eat in Everton Park” article, it caused quite a stir online, with many finding the offer to be the equivalent of an expensive endorsement.

In her Facebook post, Ms Charlene Yang, the founder of Kekito Bakery, said that the offer from sethlui.com had been made through an unsolicited document “with a price list advertising for services.” She posted screenshots from the document that said that with an additional S$400 to S$600, her eatery would be put on the first, second or third place on the best-of list.

However, Mr Seth Lui, the founder of sethlui.com, called the allegations in Ms Yang’s post “absolutely false.” A spokesman for Mr Lui told The Straits Times in an Oct 7 piece that the articles are paid for by sponsors as indicated on the site with a note clarifying this.

He also published a statement to address the issue, writing that when taking eateries as clients, members of sethlui.com try the food offered, and if it’s found to be below average quality, they drop the clients.

“The misconception from the post is that we randomly pick eateries and send them proposals. That is patently false. If it were true, the biggest names in F&B would top all our lists, squeezing out everyone else. Read our reviews and you will see for yourself that that’s certainly not how our lists work,” added Mr Lui.

However, an Oct 14 article in CNA quotes some food bloggers as saying that the practice of eateries offering extra money for the top spots in a ranked list should be routinely turned down. Other food bloggers call for a clear indication to readers whenever coverage of an eatery has been paid for.

CNA quoted Johor Kaki food reviewer Tony Boey as saying, “I pay for my own meals as an anonymous customer, unless it is a hosted media tasting event, which I attend occasionally and will declare it as such in my post.”

Another food blogger, Ms Nobelle Liew, expressed similar sentiments and added that she tells eateries whose invitations to food tastings she accepts that she writes honestly. Saying that she has only done marketing campaigns twice for foodpanda, she prefers not to be paid “because I feel like it restricts me from saying what I really feel.”

The piece even quotes food guru KF Seetoh, who said, “Money can’t buy (that) favour. It’s just our style since day one.” He turns down requests to attend food tastings, and when Makansutra reviewers do go, they are anonymous.

The food bloggers that CNA spoke to underlined they seek to maintain credibility and do not wish readers to think they write favourable reviews because they are paid for it. /TISG

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