Recently, House of Seafood (HOS) has come under the spotlight following animal welfare concerns over its crab-walking publicity stunt.
In light of rising concerns, the CEO of HOS, Mr Francis Ng, appeared on a Facebook livestream to offer explanations and apologies.
On Tuesday evening (22 Jun), Mr Francis Ng went live on Facebook to address doubts raised over the restaurant’s publicity efforts.
He explained that on Friday (19 Jun), he took 6 of his crabs out for a 5-minute walk at Punggol Waterway Park.
The CEO then cited 2 reasons behind his crab-walking feat.
One is that it was an essential publicity effort as the business has taken a serious hit from the ongoing pandemic.
Second, the restauranteur was apparently sympathetic towards his basket full of crabs that were “tied up all day”.
So he decided to take 6 lucky ones out of their cage for a stroll at the nearby park.
Mr Ng alleged his intention of walking the crabs was mostly to pose for pictures.
Adding on, he clarified that the crabs out on a stroll didn’t end up on any customer’s dinner table.
Instead, he’d taken all of them home for his own Father’s Day treat.
Mr Ng also addressed claims of overwhelming crowds and a video showing a Safe Distancing Officer taking orders for the restaurant.
He explained that the staff in red was the restaurant’s own employee in charge of managing crowds.
Instead of taking orders, he was apparently helping to relay customers’ queue numbers.
Moving on, the CEO pledged to reduce the intake of orders, increase the restaurant’s manpower, and provide more training for its staff.
Customers who’ve allegedly voiced complaints regarding the Father’s Day crowd can reach out to Mr Ng via 6466 9000.
He’ll personally deliver dining vouchers or crabs to those affected as a gesture of goodwill.
At the end of his speech, the restauranteur offered sincere apologies for any inconveniences caused by the above incidents.
This episode reminds us of the considerations behind publicity stunts that will inevitably come under public scrutiny.
We hope that House of Seafood will be more careful moving forward, and wish them the best in keeping their business going amidst these tough times.
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Featured image by MS News and adapted from Facebook.
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