Comments on: Trey Popp Says My Opinion Is Worthless; Yours Might Be, Too

By: hamburglar

hamburglar — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 17:13:00 +0000

i am aware, i was just trying to cram in an additional reference to a fictional hamburger obsessed fiend. little known fact: hamburglar is actually the in vitro love spawn of zoro and phyllis diller.

By: Marty B.

Marty B. — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 14:31:48 +0000

Good comment, hamburgler, but the Hamburgler is a straight-out thug. He just grabs the burgerbag and runs. Wimpy’s the guy with the complicated credit default scheme to burger-bezzle.

By: hamburglar

hamburglar — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 17:55:22 +0000

I personally find most of the philly-based food blogs to be lacking in original content. I often feel there is an incestual web of links among the food bloggers.

Let’s face it – despite the slight insult to bloggers – Popp was totally right. The burgers at PYT are subpar compared to the loads of places in Philly you can get a stellar burger sidled by a decent beer.

I don’t want want a violinist preparing my sushi, and I don’t want some glorfied promoter/DJ making my hamburger.

I’ll gladly pay you next Tuesday for the original content you give me today…

By: Marty B.

Marty B. — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 15:50:07 +0000

Oh come on, this indignant stance is an instance/universal ven diagram logic fail. Anyone reading the article and the graf’ you’ve pulled from it knews exactly what Popp was insinuating (as explained later on Grubb street): a collective or community of hack bloggers got a comp meal and gushed about the place, allowing official and stealth PYT marketeers to spam up Philadelphia’s internet traffic with “rave reviews”.

By and large the “food blogosphere” is a rehash of PR or comprises indexical writing at best. That is, the writer doesn’t really have anything to say but point to things or repeat what a marketer tells ‘em. There are exceptional food writers out there who find an audience through blogging. Collin, you’re one of them. That said, I wouldn’t fault Popp for saying there’s a lot of bullshit out there and letting it slip that he, and a lot of readers, are sort of sick of that bullshit.

By: HK

HK — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 19:20:38 +0000

I’ve never eaten a free meal because Im a “food blogger”. In fact i go out of my way to NOT to review overhyped places that everyone raves about. Part of it is that I like to seek out the road less traveled, but also do you really need to read another write up of PYT or whatever latest place the Philly PR machine is relentlessly pushing? It’s really boring reading about the same 4 restaurants every week.

It drives me nuts when restaurants in Philly with great food fail (example- Ansill, etc) while mediocre, overpriced, trendy places with a massive PR presence thrive.

By: CEF

CEF — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 16:10:15 +0000

@ Phreebie. Read my post. I never said I didn’t get free stuff. PR events, liquor tastings, etc. have all been part of the job. But I do not review food or meals that I didn’t pay for. The original shot was that bloggers write positive reviews for people because we didn’t pay for the meal. I always go as a paying customer first before passing judgment.

@lexis-nexis
Sounds alot like the plaque those kids put together in Red Dawn. WOLVERINES!!!!!!!

By: Taylor

Taylor — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 15:17:29 +0000

Ben – No generalizing or lying on my part, I was just putting out there my experience as a food blogger. And, I did mention that gratis food does happen, but is not the norm. Poll all of the food bloggers in Philly not associated with print media to see who gets comped, and I think you’ll find it’s an extremely small percentage.

By: bhiladelphia

bhiladelphia — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 14:55:47 +0000

if trey ever read one of my reviews… he he (sigh).

By: Ben

Ben — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 14:51:26 +0000

Taylor,

I know for a fact that more than one of the blogs mentioned in the post regularly get free tastes and meet with restaurant owners, chefs and other insiders. It is certainly not a myth. Food bloggers are passionate nerds, but they all take different approaches to getting their content. There’s nothing wrong with this as long as the bloggers don’t misrepresent themselves, and I don’t think any of our local favorites do. But to generalize about food writers of any medium is just lying.

By: lexis-nexis lady

lexis-nexis lady — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 09:02:50 +0000

@Ben

“It’s not as if we start trash talking print media folks.”

Let a plaque be erected upon this place! It shall read, “September 3, 2009: Here was cast the first stone in the Media Wars of the Early Century, by Philadelphia City Paper writer Trey Popp. Indeed, neither side had talked shit about the other until this sad day.”