Medium: The NY Times:

Vehicle: Newspaper Article

Reporter: Pete Wells- petewells@nytimes.com

Date: January 22, 2020

Headline/Section: Food; D1 & D8

Company Involved: Restaurants (in general)

STORY: Pete Wells, as a food writer in the NY Times, receives a ton of complaints from readers regarding the noise levels in restaurants he often writes about. It’s actually one of the most popular pieces of feedback he receives. Yet he waited a long time to address this issue: why? Wells is challenging the idea that noisy restaurants are a bad thing. He goes on to share that noises in life, while they aren’t always pleasant, are often justified by humans due to the purpose they serve (his examples: we tolerate firetruck sirens because firetrucks serve a good purpose, and we tolerate the sound of trash cans rolling down a driveway, because we appreciate the ability to get rid of trash from our homes). Noisy restaurants, he believes, are no different, as the noise we hear is a small price to pay for the experience diners receive as  result of the noise: social connections, relaxation, and fun. He also went on to say that, while people complain about noisy restaurants, walking into restaurants without noise is often times MORE uncomfortable, as we feel so much more on display. Lastly, we live in  world with so little face to face communication, that there is comfort in seeing that people still talk across the table from one another.

My Analysis: 

I chose this piece specifically because of its unique way to tackle a commonly complained about issue, and its potential to  help people in areas of PR related to food/restaurants promote their brands. I personally think this article is awesome, and I totally agree with it. As somebody who has spent the past two summers interning in the events world, so much of what I strived to create for my attendees is what he talked about in this article: noise- chatter- talking:  because noise indicates happiness, relaxation and comfort. From a PR perspective, I would definitely use this article as a foundation to pitch stories about the “feeling of comfort/family” customers feel when they step into their restaurant, and turn any negative noise complaints about their restaurant into a positive, by following this article’s standpoint on the issue.  While this was a clear opinion piece, I think the article could help people in food/restaurant PR use their noise complaints to their advantage, and build a brand off of that.