Diners eat for free as stock prices slide
Print Edition
A HOTPOT restaurant in the Pudong New Area was yesterday counting the cost of Thursday’s stock market slump as a promotional campaign led to it serving up hundreds of free meals.
Inspired by the recent surge in share prices, the Tongluwan eatery launched a deal offering discounts on food depending on the daily movements of the Shanghai Composite Index.
The offer stated that if the benchmark gauge moved more than 5 percent in either direction on a single day, customers would be entitled to eat for free. Lower discounts were offered for smaller fluctuations.
When stocks plunged 6.5 percent on Thursday, the restaurant was overwhelmed, as 500 diners filled their boots, and their stomachs.
Workers declined to tell Shanghai Daily yesterday how much the feeding frenzy cost the owners of the restaurant, though one local newspaper estimated the damage at 50,000 yuan (US$8,000).
An employee who asked not to be named said the promotion “went far beyond their expectations.”
“We kept running out of ingredients and had to stop taking reservations over the phone because we were so busy,” the person said.
Despite the block on phone bookings, huge queues formed outside the restaurant as people sought to take advantage of the free food offer.
One Internet user was so happy with his bargain lunch that he posted an image of his bill on Weibo.
It showed he had paid just 42 yuan — for drinks, which are not included in the promotion — for a meal that should have cost 432 yuan.
Despite Thursday’s “hit,” an employee said the deal will run until June 15, as planned.
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