Power of Advertisement?

I delivered to a customer the other night and the first thing i noticed when I opened the door was a giant flat screen TV, must of been about a 37”.  Now on the TV was a commercial, a Dominos pizza commercial, and this customer wasn’t ordering Dominos.

The restaurant that I work at doesn’t have these amazing deals that Dominos is offering. So why did this customer order from us and not them? Also, do commercials and advertising influence people as much as we think. If a restaurant has zero commercials and little advertising, similar to the restaurant that I work at, but has great food, word will spread and people will know about it even though there is little advertising.

According to an article on the CNN website, http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/europe/09/22/power.of.advertising/index.html, advertising can control the way we look, the way we meet people, what we drive, what we eat, and pretty much every aspect of our lives.

So what if this customer was watching a Dominos commercial, He clearly wanted the better quality of food even though it might of cost him a little more money. Media is said to have large impact on consumption and is said to control what we buy. My encounter the other night proved this wrong and it shows media can only control you if you allow it to.

FN 4/16

Pizza Cooking Shows

I don’t really tend to watch cooking shows but when I rarely tune it i never see them about pizza. Pizza is such a common food that you would think that many more cooking channels would devote there time in ways of making it tastier and well, healthier. Pizza is getting a bad rap because most people think that pizza is unhealthy. Just because its associated with fried chicken wings doesn’t mean its unhealthy. Americans consume around 350 slices a second and can contain a days worth of calories in 2-3 slices. In fact, one slice of Dominoes veggie pizza which contains, veggies, feta, black olives, and provolone is about 230 calories. Comparing this slice to a Burger King Whopper (760 cals), KFC Double Down (540 cals), and MCdonalds Quarter Pounder (740), the slice of Dominoes is clearly coming out on top. Its not the pizza itself that’s unhealthy, maybe is the person ordering it. Constant customers are so prone in getting what they crave rather than thinking of the consequences. So next time your at the counter looking at the menu, try ordering a pizza with some veggies rather than your beloved meat lovers pizza, which is oh so good. It might not taste as well but later in life your body with thank you. My question to you: is pizza a good alternative to your common fast food place?

Fire and Resue

Last night i delivered to our towns fire and rescue center. I assumed it was for a party because the order was over 200 dollars of salads, pastas, and garlic bread. I was expecting at least a $20 tip, i walked out with only $10. But besides the point it was a bunch of food for the people who keep our town safe. We just started catering recently and it has become a big hit. We cater large subs, pasta dishes with garlic bread and of course pizza. Catering has become more and more popular. Why do you think people prefer catering over ordering individual items? Is it because one its cheaper as a whole, or is it because of the simple fact that’s its easier to do. Rather than saying everyone specific order. As a restaurant we prefer people who want to be catered because of the simplicity of making the food. Orders that involve lots of work, bbq philly with no cheese, add mushrooms and hot peppers, only onions on half (you get the point), are a pain to make rather than just sticking a large pasta dish in the oven. So next time you are with a large gathering think about being catered knowing the cooks will appreciate it more and that you will save lots of money! FN 3/19

Score of 76

So every now and then health inspectors come into restaurants unannounced and they give restaurants a score out of 100 based on how clean the restaurant is. There is over a hundred little things that reflect the score, i wont go into detail. Our restaurant recently received a 76. In other words, our restaurant shouldn’t even be open right now. I believe if a restaurant scores near a 70 it immediately gets closed down. But the thing is the restaurant looked clean as can the day before. This just shows you can’t judge a book by its cover and even if the food is as best as can be it may be coming from dirty dishes, ovens, and it may not be sanitary. The owners and the new GM were shocked and the whole staff had to clean for two days straight. Food is such a health issue for some many people that when it comes from unsanitary items it can cause major issues for the health nuts out there and restaurants can loose customers in a heartbeat.

But my question to you is, when ordering from a pizzeria how healthy do you think your food actually is? “Its a vegetarian pizza, its so healthy!” Throw some broccoli, onions and tomatoes on there and you think its the healthiest pizza on earth. But what about the dough, sauce, and the cheese that all have there special ingredients. People are unaware of these ingredients when ordering food all the time. FN 3/9

New GM

Recently the restaurant that I work at hired a new General Manager to run the show. Immediately he made some drastic changes such as changing the way we make certain foods. Instead of pre-frying our chicken wings (which were among the best in and around town) we have to cook them in the oven and add a little salt and pepper/seasoning. And to surprise they actually tasted better. I thought to myself this new GM knows what the hell he is talking about. New ways to prepare our meatballs, sausage, cold meats, and pastas are starting to become a common practice in our restaurant. Customers themselves are even giving us compliments about how much better our food is. With the new GM making our food much better, our restaurant has attracted new customers from around the area. I find myself delivering to new people around town every night that i have never delivered to once throughout the 5-6 years I’ve been working here.

Does changing the way we (restaurants) prepare food in the slightest way really make a difference or does the simple fact that  new owners and a new GM attract new customers because of the popularity they could have? FN 3/5

 

 

the online world

Ordering online has changed drastically over the years. The restaurant that I work at is in the process of making a website that offers online ordering, which is a good thing because ordering online has become more popular in recent years. Certainly convenience is a reason why, nothing can beat sitting on your lazy boy and clicking a few times, next thing you know you hear the door bell. This has made people less social but it also shows that social network is becoming a more feasible way to order food. I remember flipping through the yellow pages trying to find a certain phone number or menu but the internet has changed so much that you can find anything about a restaurant and people are relying that most restaurants have an option to order online just because of it’s convenience. Late night wing orders a pain sometimes, who ever is calling scrambles last minute to figure out what everyone wants but with online ordering, no need to be stressed.   WP 3/2

commercials commercials commercials

I recently just came across an article posted on fyiliving about how tv commericials strongly affect eating habits in children. It states that many“previous studies have show that exposure to television commercials related to food has increased the consumption of calorie-rich foods by children, which adversely affect their health.”

This relates to my blog and to my context because every now and then you see pizza commercials. Watching the super bowl this year I specifically remember seeing more than one Papa Johns commercial.  Pizza commercials are becoming more and more popular and its obviously having a major impact on when and why people order food. One reason why is because its becoming cheaper and cheaper, 10 dollar large pizzas at Pizza Hut is a good deal don’t get me wrong, but do the commercials representing the deals need to be on 100 times a day?  The media has such a strong influence on society that’s if it’s advertised well, restaurants and other businesses will see results.

FYI living seems likes a very credible site, just take a look for yourself…

http://www.fyiliving.com/research/tv-commercials-strongly-effect-childrens-eating-habits/

It has credible sources such as Emma Boyland and Joanne Harold, both from the University of Liverpool. An experiment was even preformed to prove that children are impacted by food commercials. Compared to the  article about baseball seats being reserved for people who are allergic to peanuts, this article didn’t have any good sources and they lacked facts. WP 3/2

No Deliveries

I got off work today at 5 pm and I didn’t take a single delivery. Why are Mondays the least busiest day of the week? Since its the start of the week people are in bad moods and you would think that some pizza or wings would cheer them up, apparently not. My shift started at 4 and I sat around, ate a slice of pizza, and left when the closing driver showed up. Mondays have always been really slow, I wonder if Dominos and Pizza Hut down the road were just as slow? The beginning of the week is for so called family or sit down dinners, where the food  is prepared and made in the kitchen of your house, not of a  pizzeria. Looking at it from another perspective, ordering pizza and wings can be seen as a celebration. That is why Friday is by far the most busiest day of the week, people are celebrating the weekend! I work every Friday and I deliver to the same old customers every single Friday, Sherry is good for at least a 10 dollar tip every Friday, sometimes even a 20 banger. As the week progresses it gets busier and busier, maybe it’s because people get lazier and lazier. I’m not hating on these people but as the week goes on people are more prone to order food rather than prepare a more healthy meal at home. It takes less effort to dial a phone number compared to making food, this is why college students are among the leaders of ordering food. Even though i didn’t make a single dollar in tips, that’s alright because I’m thinking most people are preparing and eating more healthy meals and having sit down dinners with their families and loved ones, and that’s a good thing. FN 2/20

Wings, wings, and more wings

I had an unusual delivery tonight at about 7:30. It was to a more wealthy neighborhood from where I am from and on my way there I wasn’t expecting a nice tip. People who are rich don’t seem to tip as well as people who aren’t for some reason, probably because they are smart with their money and know how to manage it better, but that’s besides the point. The delivery ticket said Corey and I  pictured an older gentlemen answering the door, of course it was not an older gentlemen. To my surprise it was a very good looking woman, probably in her upper 40s. But what was even more surprising was the food that I gave to her, 18 mild wings and 18 bbq wings with extra ranch.

She answered the door with a very large smile and the transaction between the food and the money happened so quickly that it wasn’t until I was halfway back to the restaurant when I found out she gave me a 10 dollar tip, Ill take it. While the door was only open for not even a minute I noticed about 4-5 other middle aged women surrounding the table, which made me come a quick conclusion that it was a girls night. No healthy salads, no veggie subs, strictly fried chicken wings. Lets be real for a second, no woman wants to really eat messy buffalo chicken wings in front of their loved ones because one, they don’t know how to eat them properly and its bothering for some reason and two, if they do know how to eat them and scarf them down like its their job its kind of a turn off. So no husbands, no kids, it’s their one chance to eat like they have always wanted to, like a pig. They didn’t have to worry about being messy or looked at funny while eating, they could just enjoy them to the fullest and talk about, whatever it is girls talk about while eating chicken wings. So I hope you enjoyed those wings ladies because I feel like it doesn’t happen often, oh and thanks for the tip. FN 2/13

Delivery at 4:53pm

His name is Fred, we are on a first name basis because he orders about twice a week. I enjoy getting his deliveries  because he is always good for a tip of at least 6 bucks. He answers the door every single time I’ve been to his house. I know he has a family because I always hear kids in the background, wife? That’s still up for debate. He seems like a hard working middle aged man because of the scruff on his face and the fact that he drives a work truck with lots of tools in the back.

Large philly cheese steak sub with no onions is what he always gets, along with either a pizza or some wings, usually mild with ranch. Fred seems like an honest guy, he always answers the door with a smile and is never in a bad mood. I have made one conclusion about Fred, he is addicted to philly cheese steak subs. I can’t blame him, I mean I have had my fair share of them and after working at this place for over 5 years they don’t seem to get old. But why is it those phillys that have him hooked? After working all day Fred doesn’t want to sit down, drink his beer, and munch on a salad. He wants a manly meal that represents who he is. I’m gonna go out on a limb here and say salads are feminine. I do enjoy a nice chicken ceasar like once a year, but that’s about it.  Philly cheese steak subs are for the working man who gets their hands dirty and that’s exactly who Fred is. FN 2/6