One of the nice things about Disney World is the name tags. They have the first name, and where they are from. We had a wonderful conversation with a husband-wife team from a town just down the road from where I grew up. It’s nice to see where people are from. In Las Vegas some casinos have their employees do the same thing. It can trigger a conversation and give you a nice instant connection with someone. This is a nice idea for those tourist destinations where both the staff and the customers are from all over.
California Pizza Kitchen just outside Atlanta’s perimeter highway? C’mon. I didn’t need to be informed that Brenda was from Guadalajara. It just doesn’t work. And you know what? 70% of your staff is from Central America. Instead of connecting me to the employees, it reminds me of class differences. Kind of a downer.
And you are California Pizza Kitchen! You are not “CPK”. I will not “Locate a CPK in my area”, or “register with CPK”. Get over yourself.
They are CPK. Anything longer is a waste of syllables. Same with McD’s. And Papa’s.
Papa’s and McDs both came from the people. As far as I know, this was imposed by corporate in a fake attempt to be hip.
Admittedly, I do not live in California, perhaps it is the height of cool there to get dinner at the “CPK”.
What are your feelings about KFC? I think it started on the grass roots level, but has been so embraced by the official marketing and advertising campaign that it has a corporate feel to it now. Still, it is convenient…
I have no problems with KFC because it started as a grassroots movement. It was like Obamania, sweeping the nation. Ditto with Mickey Ds, which has also been coopted.
KFC is officially the corporate name. It is no longer Kentucky Fried Chicken.