Burns My Bacon: Stop the Music
Memo to all restaurant owners: In my line of work/leisure I visit a lot of restaurant and bar websites, and I just do not understand why so, so many of you view this brief, virtual interaction as an opportunity to share a sampling of your preferred musical tastes with me. It’s unnecessary. It’s distracting. It has nothing to do with food.
If I’m visiting your website, chances are I’m there to do one of three things: 1) Look at the menu, 2) Find out the address, or 3) Make a reservation. That’s it. I do not need some sort of visceral, subconscious encouragement that you really are the restaurant for me. I certainly do not need a primer on the music of whatever country’s food you specialize in. That cheesy Italian tune is not going to make me any more likely to visit your trattoria. The hum of a mariachi band will not push me towards a Mexican spot. I don’t care if your establishment is owned by Hova himself — you don’t need to prove it!
Do you really think you are getting more customers this way? Trust me — you’re not. If anything you’re only causing a large percentage of them to frantically close the browser window before their bosses hear that thumping background music and realize they’re not working. And do not try to tell me it’s OK because you have a tiny off button hidden down on the bottom of the page below your site credits. No. Just stop. All of you. Please.
And don’t even get me started on flash animation.
Feed Us Back: What’s the worst restaurant website music you’ve ever heard?
AMEN! I loathe cheesy flash intros and web music!!!!!!!! I close that window pronto.
Thai Tanic is perhaps one of the worst offenders: http://www.thaitanic.us/thaitanic1/index.php
AMEN!! AMEN!!! Please make it stop- I don’t even know why restaurants and real estate sites are still stuck in the 90s and have music. In automatic player. The kind you first and foremost start looking for the button to make it end! Doesn’t it say something about the industry as a whole???
The latest offender for me has been Pulcinella, a delicious pizza place in San Francisco, who forgot to install the “stop the *^%$#&** music” button on its website. Not kidding:
http://pulcinellasf.com/
Agreed. This goes, I think, for almost any website: I just want the information, I do not want some screaming, flashing crap that takes 3 minutes (or even 30 seconds!) to load. But you’re right, the restaurant biz seems to be an especially major offender. I won’t link them, but basically pick any place in Atlanta with a number in its name.