Viral 1-star review of The Tamale Store in Phoenix revealed to be a marketing stunt
Did you see that viral one-star review of Phoenix's The Tamale Store from a woman who didn’t know how to eat tamales? Take it with grain of salt.
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PHOENIX – Did you see that viral one-star review of a Phoenix Mexican restaurant from a woman who didn’t know how to eat tamales?
Spoiler alert: It turned out to be a wildly successful marketing stunt by The Tamale Store.
The meme originated on Jan. 29, when the restaurant and marketplace at Cave Creek Road and Greenway Parkway posted an image of what appears to show two reviews from “Rebecca O” on its Facebook and Instagram pages.
The first review, which gave one out of four stars, said, “Absolutely awful tamale. It was chewy, stringy, and I couldn’t even bite through it.”
The second review, with a full four stars, said, “OK, I was just told I’m not supposed to eat the cornhusk. That just changed the whole experience. Seriously, the best thing I’ve ever tried omg. sorry I don’t know how to delete my other review, my bad.”
The Tamale Store posted the image with the caption, “It’s ok Rebecca we forgive you.”
The posts garnered tens of thousands of comments and likes and sparked reactions across social media that also went viral.
Tamale Store co-owner admits viral 1-star review is fake
Newsweek got in touch with The Tamale Store’s chief marketing officer and co-owner Pauline Alvarado, who fessed up.
“Rebecca O actually came from my imagination,” she told the website in a story published Monday.
However, Alvarado said the fake reviews were based on reality, explaining that the restaurant receives similar complaints from first-time customers “all the time.”
“The idea came from a woman who purchased a hot tamale the day before and came back to complain. When I went to see which one she had been eating, I realized she had eaten part of the corn husk. We both laughed, and I gave her another tamale on the house so she could try again. That moment inspired the Rebecca character,” Alvarado told Newsweek.
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Comments
3 Comments
Pretty crafty marketing ploy. And cheaper than hiring paid protesters.
I see what you did there, good one!!!!!
The LLLs will be upset, another good one!!!!!
Paid protesters are used for marketing ploys? Where'd this happen, or are you just using a ploy for attention or to make this political?