Verbatim | Feb 06,2021
October 9 , 2021
By Kidist Yidnekachew ( Kidist Yidnekachew has degrees in psychology and journalism and communications. She can be reached at kidyyidnekachew@gmail.com. )
We have all heard it said, “looks can be deceiving,” which is often used to refer to something that seems good on the outside but does not have the matching qualities the deeper we go. An external appearance can indeed be misleading. Another saying has the same meaning, “don’t judge a book by its cover.” We judge anyway. But if there is one place where we do not always get what we see, it is restaurants.
Eateries put up big banners of the foods they claim to prepare. Once we get inside and order, we sometimes find out they do not even make that kind of food. Other times, they do prepare the meal. But it is usually not, say, the delicious-looking beef burger with crispy French fries that they serve but a poor replica of it. Unsurprisingly, neither does it taste good.
Other times, it is dairy product shops, who hang out posters depicting cheese. Often, they do not have it. When I asked why they post the picture if they do not have the product, they commonly say that they had it at some point but stopped selling it eventually.
Why though? Why mislead customers? Instead of spending money on printing out unrealistic banners, why not work on perfecting recipes and refining menus?
I cannot mention the number of times I have been deceived by the posters outside and ended up being served food that made me regret it. I gave so many eateries the benefit of the doubt, but only to be disappointed. Some places do not even get the spelling of the food right. One of the most commonly misspelt words is “burger” usually written on menus as “berger.”
The whole phenomenon is all the more annoying when it comes to domestic cuisine. The other day, I went to a restaurant with my cousin, and we ordered tibs, stir-fried beef. The tibson the poster looked yummy, with its well cooked but soft meat. When our order came, the meat looked to have been minced. Not only that, it was tough to chew. On top of that, the injera, flatbread, they brought tasted like vinegar. We still forked over 300 Br in the end.
Sometimes, the problem is not just false advertising but negligence as well. We see this on big banners put up by government institutions or major companies. Considering the amount of money these institutions spend on printing out and hanging the posters, it would be wise to check for spelling errors or typos one last time before printing them out. It would not kill them to invest in a copy editor or two.
The problem of advertising that misguides others is ubiquitous to the point that it can even be found when people interview for jobs. When candidates are being interviewed for a job, they tend to name or make up qualities they do not possess either out of desperation or eagerness to get the job. Later, they get hired and fail to live up to the employer’s expectations because of false representation of themselves.
No doubt, if they say they do not have any qualities or could not think of any, then they will not get the job. This leads us to believe that being oneself or being honest about our limitations makes us appear unworthy – being ourselves is just not enough. Our foods are not good enough. Thus we have to hang giant banners to attract customers even though the food we serve looks nothing like what is depicted outside; we do not like the way we look; thus, we put makeup on. Our voices are not good, so we cover it up with autotune. The list goes on.
How about striving in accepting ourselves and working on the things we can change instead of spending time and energy on creating a false identity?
PUBLISHED ON
Oct 09,2021 [ VOL
22 , NO
1119]
Comments are closed.
Verbatim | Feb 06,2021
Fortune News | Sep 11,2020
My Opinion | Jan 18,2020
Commentaries | May 25,2019
Life Matters | Dec 25,2018
Viewpoints | Dec 19,2020
Life Matters | Aug 17,2019
Editorial | Nov 21,2020
Fortune News | May 15,2021
View From Arada | May 29,2021
Photo Gallery | 56406 Views | May 06,2019
Fortune News | 48288 Views | Jul 18,2020
Photo Gallery | 48273 Views | Apr 26,2019
Fortune News | 47355 Views | Sep 01,2021
July 2 , 2022 . By RUTH TAYE
On a rainy afternoon last week, a coffee processing facility in the capital's Akaki-Qality District was abuzz with activ...
November 27 , 2021
Against my will, I have witnessed the most terrible defeat of reason and the most sa...
November 13 , 2021
Plans and reality do not always gel. They rarely do in a fast-moving world. Every act...
October 16 , 2021 . By HAWI DADHI
Residing in a country with no capital market, an organised marketplace for trading se...
September 24 , 2022
Look no further than the flower industry to appreciate the importance of the European...
September 17 , 2022
The debate shortly after the Council of Ministers nodded a bill to open the financial...
September 10 , 2022
Ethiopia's policymakers and wonks began planning the economy and directing its course...
September 3 , 2022
The late American President, Ronald Reagan, went back after 50 years to a college in...
September 24 , 2022
Spring has come, in the form of a commercial bank. Amhara Credit & Saving Institution restarted operations as a full-fledged bank last w...
September 24 , 2022 . By BERSABEH GEBRE
Federal authorities are pushing heads of financial institutions - yet again - to contribute up to two per...
Lia Tadesse's (MD) Ministry of Health foresees building a national reference laboratory as part of a proj...
September 24 , 2022 . By BERSABEH GEBRE
Mesenbet Shenkute has consolidated her incumbency at the Addis Abeba Chamber of Commerce & Sectoral A...
Loading your updates...
Actually the most misspelt word is not “berger” – rather “tibson” as you spelt it in this content.