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Will Kogi BBQ start getting more notoriety because of these awesome rants instead of their food? The last time, it was an e-mail from Kogi's PR person to a food blogger where she explained she did not like being treated like a "vending machine" for press inquiries. Now, their resident blogger going after the so called "hypestar" in a long post. Here's an excerpt where the term is defined: "What is a hypester? (Not to be confused with a hipster - which is a very strangeLy fancifuL and occasionaLLy deLightfuL creature!) A hypester is a snarky littLe Negative Ned/Nancy who uses aLL avenues of the internet — be it a comment board, bLog, Twitter, Facebook, etc.- to try and start sh*t cuz it’s entertaining. These emotionaL/psychic vampires utiLize or create hype to provoke a reaction out of an internet personaLity, start a fLame war or some weird littLe feud over a triviaL opinion, an emaiL taken out of context or a quirk that they’ve re-cropped w/ their literary, gossip-driven Photoshop to be a personaL offense. The KEY CLUE IS HYPE. For they aLmost never use soLid evidence or reaLity as a means to sway one’s opinion."
Kogi BBQ Rant: 'Dear Hypesters, this shizz has GOT to STOP'
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What's up with aLL the capitaL "L"s? Am I missing something?
She thinks lover case "l"s look like "I"s or something. Even though the rest of the population rarely gets confused by that. It's hard to read. Harder, perhaps, than something written in all capitals. I think she's someone's sister or sister-in-law. Their brand manager is great. She's not, though. Her PR skillz involve posting long ranting blogs that make her sound 17, all using those "L"s.
Seriously, Kogi, the lowest common denominator for PR people should be their spelling and typing ability. Oh, and a certain level of professionalism that doesn't call out the "hypesters." I like their food, but GAH!
I think she stole that rant from Tolstoy (and the "L" thing.)
Don't beLieve the hype!
The PR girl is the problem. Who cares if she's family, fire her.
Wow. I haven't been to Kogi yet but I've gotta say, the linked post - not to mention the STOOPID "L" thing - makes me really, really uninterested. Gimmicky much??
i can only assume that her recent graduation was from the kanye west school for obnoxious bloggers.
Their food is excellent and I’m a huge fan, but I would suggest hiring a legitimate public relations firm to handle the PR work. It seems to me that hiring Miley Cyrus as their PR rep was a bad move.
I've never had their food and now I sure as hell don't want to. They sound like a bunch of douchebags.
Breaking: People call people names on the internet. Laist reposts blog entry as new content.
She also uses the term "redonkuLus" at some point towards the bottom of that rant. And how's this for unprofessional? Someone on their end is deleting all the critical (not necessarily negative) comments.
That response she gave that blogger is absolutely appalling. I can't even begin to point out how wrong that was. She can in no way call herself a professional. Oh wait! She's not! She's a college student who happens to be a relative, and apparently Chef Roy is cheap. Other comments at that blog post and Eater LA also point to her unprofessional behavior. I'm seriously reconsidering ever giving money to them again. Damn their tasty tofu...
Do you usually judge taco trucks on their professionalism?
No, but it's how I tend to judge human beings. Some are worth my time and others aren't. It's common sense that if you're getting write-ups from CNN and the NY Times, you need to step it up a bit. Not only is this girl mean, catty and downright rude, but the rest of her family/co-workers are defending it, which boggles the mind.
There are many taco trucks without the 'tude I can choose from. It's called capitalism, and if I have a reason to go elsewhere, I will. That's pretty much the whole point of public relations.
Who cares how some blogger was treated? They are a dime a dozen. We go for the food.
Looks like they deleted the comment that I left for them on their board. Nice way to turn me from a slightly critical customer into a pissed off non-customer. I won’t be eating Kogi again anytime soon. Maybe you they won’t miss the $15 I drop on you from time to time, but if you treat enough customers this poorly it will eventually add up.
Sorry, Kogi. You’ve just lost me as a customer.
Nice way to turn me from a slightly critical customer into a pissed off non-customer.
My thoughts exactly. And I like their food. They could have risen above this.
The post has been deleted.
1. They have lines of several HUNDRED people. They can afford a little attrition. Including the 5 people here who are appauled by their behavior...
2. No doubt it is a fad. The key is expansion and how far ahead of yourself you get. If they start opening stand alone stores and run 10 more trucks they will pay the price. Anyone remember Krispy Kreme and Crocs...
3. The PR girl is annoying and the tone her posts are for the most part ridiculous, but the food is REALLY good.
4. This "vending machine" thing is TOTALLY right on. Having a blog does not entitle you to get information from people, PR or not and the format in which the questions were asked???? Come on.
5. I like how the entire tone of that Current TV piece is UBER snarky yet when the Kogi guy is clearly joking around and makes the obviously outlandish Gahndi comparison everyone loses their minds.
People need to relax. You don't want to hang the Kogi on the weekends. You want to eat their tacos. You have a mutual commonality... Chill the F out with the "but they are not good people crap"!
Krispy Kreme's a publicly traded multinational company that has been around since 1937...
Totally agree. So sick of the blog reviews that seem to only bitch about things. Who really cares what some self anointed foodie blogster thinks? I hope we are going back to the days when the customer can go F themselves if they get too demanding and bitchy.
So don't eat there. No one forced yu to stand on line. No one is reading your blogs either.
yay for the google cache of the page
Wow, that's an earlier version of the page - most of those comments were deleted by the time I saw it the next day. Then a bunch MORE got deleted, then the whole post.
For a grad student, she doesn't seem that bright.
LOL, robertdean, you're awesome.
Is it ironic or redundant that a PR rep had no idea her asinine email retort would get around the LA blogosphere AND that the idea of a Google cache might foil her plan to alter history and pretend her continual eff-ups never happened?
Might I also add that the post suggesting people bring a 6-pack and drink in public is also deleted.
Again, thank you Google for caching it.
the post is no longer there...
the post is no longer there...
opps nevermind
This has got to be the most moronic thing I've ever seen. Alice isn't a PR person and Kogi are not a giant corporation filled with lawyers who need to ensure the company's image is spic and span. Kogi has never said they are anything more than a family run taco truck. Yes they have capitalized on the opportunities presented to them as they have become more and more popular, but anyone that expects them to operate any different from a standard taco truck is just not paying attention. I'm not sure if you've ventured much into the internets other than the bastion of intellect and proper punctuation known as LAist, but a lot of people do seem to talk this way. If you want to wage a war against the strange language that has evolved from various internet memes, feel free, but don't confuse that with this rabid backlash against Kogi which just seems to boil down to "I liked this korean taco rock band better before they sold out and everyone started listening to them."
Not so sure it's a war against an internet meme, per se - just that in an innocent request by a blogger, aLice unknowingly did damage by means of the very job function she was hired to do by means (internet, blogging, twitter) of the way the Kogi truck got popular in the first place.
So no, the fury doesn't merely come by way of annoyance over aLice's capitalization, lack of blogging code of ethics, etc... She gave the "haters" ammo. Shiz has got to stop!
I don't know of many other taco trucks that have brand managers, PR reps (because, yes, Alice was hired to do "PR," especially as it relates to bloggers), use twitter, or get featured on CNN and the NY Times. Standard taco truck? That's not what they're billing themselves as, and that's not really what they are.
can we fucking not have the capital l's all over the place, please? i stopped caring by the third sentence.