Recently a vlogger, Stanley Chen, took the internet by storm with a ‘fake restaurant’ that went viral in its own right. In a video uploaded to Instagram and YouTube, he explains how he set up the establishment, invited influencers and managed to convince many people that they were being served special dishes. In reality, the vlogger and his team simply gave them instant ramen in fancy-looking bowls. In the video, the vlogger explains that he created a fake “five-star” ramen restaurant in seven days and named it “Nice Ramen”. The Japanese name translates to “fake ramen”.
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The vlogger and his team clicked some food photos, used them to create a fake website about the ‘restaurant’ and also made a video about it (which later went viral on social media). There was so much buzz about it that the vlogger decided to issue invitations only to influencers with more than 100000 followers. In the reel, we see him talking on the phone and asking an influencer how many followers she has. She replies that she has 240000. The vlogger clarifies that all other interested ‘customers’ will have to wait outside. While he says this, he shows a long queue of people waiting to get into the fake restaurant. He claims that more than 100 people waited in line for almost three hours to get in. The vlogger and his team also took other steps to make people believe that this is a real restaurant. “To make it even more spectacular, we installed a projector to show scenes of nature. We served all our instant ramen in plant pots and also hired a DJ to play sounds of nature and named this experience ‘Ramen Forest,’” he says.
In the end, the video shows servers asking for feedback from influencers and customers, which is mostly positive. Their reactions also show that they think it is a real food place. On asking a guest how much he would pay for a bowl of ramen, he replies $45-50 (approximately Rs 4000). Watch the full reel below:
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Also read: Watch: This Ramen store in Seoul has no employees, know how this store works
His Instagram reel has garnered over 21 million views so far. In a long video uploaded on YouTube, he explains the reason for this ‘experiment’ and gives more details about how he managed to trick people (watch it here). The comments section on Instagram saw varied reactions. Read what some users said about the viral video:
“It’s proof that marketing is never about the product, but how it makes you feel; that’s where the money is made.”
“It’s the pinnacle of entertainment.”
“Brother could have made millions but he decided to expose himself.”
“This is proof that we are doomed as a species.”
“This is proof that ‘fake it till you make it’ works.”
“That’s why I avoid fancy restaurants.”
“5 stars with that interior? Yet they believed it.”
“‘Very good and tastes like a home-cooked meal.’ I mean it tastes like what you eat at home.”
“I’m reminded of 2017 when Vice journalists created a fake restaurant that became No. 1 in London. A really cool video to watch.”
People have opened fake restaurants before. Some time ago, the 21-year-old AI startup founder and his group of friends planned an “elaborate prank”. They changed the address of their four-bedroom residence on Google Maps to a fake restaurant called ‘Mehran Steak House’. A year later, their prank resulted in people offering a real-life dining experience. Click here to read the full story.
Also read: Watch: Chef makes unique Ramen Fried Chicken – Video goes viral
