Remember Cecere? The pastry shop that I adore for their absolutely delightful Maritozzo?
After going to the Trastevere branch, I was happy to know that there was a branch nearer to our home in Eur. So Cart and I were there practically each Sunday the past 3 weeks to enjoy their cakes and pastries.
Each time the lady at the counter kept staring at me dubiously. But, you know, after living in Rome for several years, I’ve learnt not to keep it to heart. After all, the important thing is that I get my beloved cream pastries.
Pastries from Cristalli di Zucchero
Anyway, looking through the beautiful pastries, I got enthralled and of course snapped a picture. And as I snapped, the lady looked distastefully at me and told me to stop. She still looked pissed when I said, sorry and walked out with the cakes that we bought.
Children’s chocolate cake from Il Bavaglino
But as we walked out, the more that I thought about it, the more puzzled I got. And I berated myself for not asking, “Why?” Because I never had the same experience with the branch at Trastevere.
It’s not that I’m not looking for a fight, but I really don’t understand. I don’t understand. I don’t understand!
So lets say the biggest reasoning is that they are scared that I could be a potential rival and steal their designs, what could stop an actual rival from going there, buy something, bring it back to the kitchen and try to recreate it from their own kitchen?
Carrot cake from Made Bakery
And I’m not talking only about the small pastry shops, even the big-chain fast food restaurants like Mcdougals are so protective of their menu. A staff stopped me from taking a picture of the huge queue in front of the counter with the reasoning that they are protecting the menu (at least she was apologetic and kind about it)
Maritozzo from Il Cornettone
I like sharing pictures of things that I find beautiful and it’s a plus if it’s food and is delicious. It’s like a word of mouth publicity, no?
Which is why I do not understand why there are still people who still are so protective that their merchandise being photographed (It’s like almost every other month, where ever I go, a shop would do that) But the more I am chided, the less I feel like going there as a customer. But it’s not like they will lose business from one client. And not as if I’m such a femes blogger to make a significant change (kind of tempted to make a flash mob going here with EVERYONE taking pictures) but still …
Someone please enlighten me.
I wonder how things will change when we all start wearing Google Glasses.. Maybe we’ll see more of this??
http://www.theverge.com/2012/7/17/3164008/steve-mann-mcdonalds-assault-eyetap-digital-eye-glass
Yikes! The poor man! I wouldn’t want to be in his place.
But that’s an interesting observation about Google Glasses. That technology has been around for some years now, and I wonder myself too, how it would be like when it gets popularized.
Good to ask before snapping. AFterall, nothng belong to us. People don’t want ther creation copied. As simple as that.
You might be right there, asking for permission before snapping. It’s the polite thing to do.
Nevertheless, I subscribe to the idea that anything that is shown in public is free for all to see, including to take picture. If these shop owners are so scared to have their designs copied, they should have it hidden away where no one could see it. Problem solved :p
Although it has never happened to me, I have seen it happen to other tourists in Italy, somehow some Italian shop owners have this fear of ‘their’ creations/ideas/concepts being copied or stolen just because someone is taking a photo, little do they know that it can be done in so many other ways without them realising it so they should just go ahead and let people snap photos. As you mentioned, the person taking photos of their ‘products’ could be actually helping them to advertise FREE OF CHARGE via a blog etc.
As for McDouglas wanting to ‘protect’ their menu, if a person really wanted to copy them, it could easily be done even without even taking a photo of their menu. It beats me why some shop owners have this unfounded fear of being ‘copied’ when in my opinion, in most cases, their products or shop design or menu design isn’t even original or unique.
I remember once in 2004, I was at an open-air market with a friend who wanted to buy an Italian-made blouse for herself so when we chanced upon a stall selling them, we stopped and were having a look when as soon as she saw us, the stall owner immediately declared to a neighbouring stall owner that us ‘Chinese’ had arrived to check out the ‘competition'(meaning them). Why are they so paranoid????
And a month ago, I saw an Italian guy being stopped by the security guard of the chain make up store Kiko as he was taking a photo of the shop (as if their shop design and layout is so ‘unique or special’!).
Yikes, I understand the need for some people to want to protect their image, but going into violence is just too much. But maybe those people are just “power hungry”. What a shame for Kiko! I liked going to their shop for their mekap! And I know that there are a lot of Italian beauty bloggers who do reviews on the brand. I wonder what will happen if one of them had that experience!
And, I hope that you told that shopkeeper off. That was such a jerk thing to say. Customer is customer, regardless of where they come from!
There is a Malay saying, which goes something like, There is nothing to be scared about, if you’re in the right.
Some of these shop owners are really ignorant at how things can be copied or publicised instead. Personally I think some of them have the caveman mentality 🙁
Too bad for them, for their old way of thinking. For sure new generation generally would prefer to go somewhere else.