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'Surkus' App Pays Users To Line Up Outside New Restaurants (chicagotribune.com)
A new app called Surkus allows restaurants to manufacture their ideal crowd and pay people to stand in place like extras on a movie set. The app reportedly uses "an algorithmic casting agent of sorts" to hand-pick people according to age, location, style and Facebook "likes." All of this is done to create the illusion that a restaurant is busy and worthy of your hard-earned money. Chicago Tribune reports: They may look excited, but that could also be part of the production. Acting disengaged while they idle in line could tarnish their "reputation score," an identifier that influences whether they'll be "cast" again. Nobody is forcing the participants to stay, of course, but if they leave, they won't be paid -- their movements are being tracked with geolocation. Welcome to the new world of "crowdcasting." Surkus raises new questions about the future of advertising and promotion. At a time when it has become commonplace for individuals to broadcast polished versions of their lives on social media, does Surkus give businesses a formidable tool to do the same, renting beautiful people and blending them with advertising in a way that makes reality nearly indiscernible? Or have marketers found a new tool that offers them a far more efficient way to link brands with potential customers, allowing individuals to turn themselves into living extensions of the share economy using a structured, mutually beneficial transaction? The answer depends on whom you ask.
If there is a queue at a restaurant, then I certainly wont be going, and anyone joining the queue will either be waiting forever, or have to be told its a fake?
I have to wonder what type of people would be spending their time doing this.
They have enough money for a smartphone, and to look 'smart' in some demographic way, however their time is worthless enough that they can afford to be paid (I assume not much) to stand around doing nothing...
It shouldn't take more than a quick look in the door to see that the place is empty, and yet there is a queue outside ;)
It pays to be a social media whore today, so it doesn't surprise me that pimping lies like this is somehow worthwhile.
Why fucking bother getting an education when we value narcissism and bullshit this much.
When I look for a place to eat, I ask my FRIENDS...and by friends I mean those that share my sense of values, not these social media apps, "likes" and what not. A lot of my "good eatin' places" look like dives, ready to fall apart, sometimes you think how the hell did the health department pass this place? Established places. One BBQ place I frequent, has been around since the late 1920's! When I first went there in 1981, they had a few playing cards & dollar bills tacked onto the ceiling tiles. By the early 2000's, they mostly had turned solid black from cigarette smoke (smoking isn't allowed in businesses in our city anymore). Plus, you are likely to see people that appear to be homeless, along with people in suits during the lunch rush. It's a down home place, friendly. Another one is a chili place, been around since the early 50's. Building was made out of an old metal quonset hut. Decorations inside look like something out of a psycho movie. Posters of just about anything, paint splatters all over the place. The chili is purposely spilled over the top of the bowl onto the dish underneath. Owner decades ago had someone thing the bowl wasn't full enough, so he filled it to the top and it spilled over. He then did that on purpose and to this day, if your bowl doesn't have spilled chili, they will fill it. THOSE are the kind of places I like to frequent. You know , the broken neon sign that says "EATS" out of the way hole in the wall places, not the trendy ones where everyone inside isn't talking to each other, but TEXTING each other. You can have those overpriced, over hyped, shallow places...I'll stick with the off the wall hole in the wall places that know how to slap a steak on the grill, fry up a greasy cheeseburger, fat dripping BBQ, stick to your ribs food.
To further elaborate, this app actually has a pretty good chance of succeeding if it can execute. Most promoters are very unprofessional due to largely being addicted to alcohol/drugs (hazard of the occupation I guess) and owners/managers would love nothing more than have security show them the door