This promotional video for Hart’s Seafood Buffet, with its haunted-house soundtrack, eerie serving bins of dead sea creatures, and shots of empty tables, comes off as a bizarre meditation on the unhealthiness of deep-fried food. It’s so badly conceived, it’s almost an “anti-ad” — a deliberate attempt to drive customers away.
Please, please, please: if you want high-quality content developed for your website — text, slideshows, video — turn to a content development professional.
UPDATE: The link I posted earlier (directly to Hart’s Seafood’s website) was hijacked and pointed to a p0rn side. The link above is safe, as it goes to a copy on YouTube.com.
I laughed out loud; the images are bad, but the music is the worst! It truly adds that “funereal” quality to the whole experience. Not a place I want to go!!!
The creepy, funereal synthesizer music reminds me of the creepy, funereal organ music in the ’60s cult horror film “Carnival of Souls.”
Mark – you are a freaking jerk. Shots of empty tables? Looks to me like the owner is showing how large his restaurant is. The food looks delicious. If you are one of those tofu-eating pansies they have bean sprouts and salad for you.I hate people to preach about what is good to eat and what isn’t. Food Police-don’t you have anything better to do? Jerk
Hi, James! Thanks for stopping by.
I’m glad you like the video — but it’s a pity you didn’t like it enough to sign your comment with a real name and email address. You may find that calling people names and concealing your identity doesn’t exactly inspire confidence in your opinions.
In fact, since you’re the only person I’ve encountered who thinks this little video is sheer marketing genius, I suspect you’re the developer. So, just in case you check back, here are a few pointers:
– If the owner’s goal was to show how big the restaurant is, then a good content creator would show that restaurant packed with delighted diners. The deserted restaurant, especially in these chilly, badly exposed digital photos, looks creepy and deserted. Photos of an empty restaurant suggest “We opened the doors, but nobody showed up.”
– The shots of the food were made at close range with a harsh digital camera flash; as a result, the food has an unpleasant sheen, as though it’s been radiated. In addition, the metallic bins look positively medical. Substitute beauty shots of the same food, served up and beautifully arranged on a plate, and *then* the food will look delicious. If you must show the buffet table, show happy diners serving themselves from it.
– The music just wrong, wrong, wrong. That sort of dirge may be appropriate for funerals or haunted houses, but it has no place in a marketing video for a family buffet. You need a soundtrack that’s big, happy, friendly, and enthusiastic — not mournful, mysterious, and depressing.
Frankly, “James,” your other comments mystify me. While I am, indeed, a pansy, I am not someone who eats nothing but tofu and beansprouts, nor did I preach to anyone about what to eat and what to avoid.
My post has nothing to do with policing food choices … but everything to do with pointing out just how inappropriate that video was as a marketing tool for a seafood buffet. (It says something, too, that the owners of the website have, apparently, removed it from the site.)
The video was pretty scary. The fact you seem to think it was effective is even scarier.