Alex Buscemi
In a world where social media reigns supreme, newbie influencers are constantly trying to make their mark. Enter Jamieson May, an aspiring content creator from Melbourne, Australia.
Jamieson took to TikTok to vent about a “rude” response from a vegetarian restaurant, Patsy’s, that she wanted to collaborate with.
Little did she know, her attempt to shame the restaurant would backfire spectacularly.
The rant that started it all
On April 14, Jamieson posted a nearly three-minute video on TikTok, expressing her frustration with Patsy’s, a popular vegetarian restaurant in Melbourne.
She aimed to expose the restaurant’s supposed unprofessionalism in rejecting her proposal to collaborate. In her video, which quickly amassed 24,900 views, she said, “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 “influencer’s” proposal
Jamieson explained that she used a template she had sent to other restaurants and companies she wanted to work with. In this template, she rated Patsy’s only a one on her social media grading scale. According to her, she had never faced any issues with this approach before.
“So I sent a 1 to this restaurant,” she recounted. “Now I already sent other ones, I’ve never had a problem with it ever.”
https://www.tiktok.com/@jamiesonmayyy/video/7357660680851393809
However, Patsy’s wasn’t impressed by Jamieson’s follower count—15,600 on her main Instagram and 1,100 on her food-dedicated page.
Their response was blunt: “You don’t seem to have any followers, maybe you should approach us when you have over 100k.”
The restaurant’s rebuttal
The exchange didn’t end there.
Jamieson shared her response to Patsy’s: “Sorry, but that is extremely rude.”
Patsy’s fired back with a scathing retort: “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 fallout
The backlash against Jamieson was swift and harsh. Critics accused her of being an entitled influencer. Faced with a flood of negative comments, she eventually disabled the comments on her video.
In an interview with News.com.au, she said, “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.”
The restaurant’s perspective
Mathew Guthrie, co-owner of Patsy’s, defended their blunt response, explaining, “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 internet responded with mixed opinions
A lesson in influence
Jamieson’s experience serves as a cautionary tale for aspiring influencers. While she argued that engagement and reach are more important metrics than follower count, her attempt to shame Patsy’s restaurant ultimately did more harm to her own reputation.
As the digital landscape continues to evolve, the line between genuine influence and perceived entitlement becomes ever more critical for content creators to navigate.
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