A food review I read this past week really got my dander up. I hate it when self-proclaimed food critics trash a resto or a dish without offering an up side. So it was with a particularly nasty, unbalanced review of Tim Horton’s new Pizza…
I just can’t agree with Brad Shankar’s assessment of Tim’s new pizzas. On may counts…
Who is this guy?
I was immediately suspicious of this review when I noted it didn’t have a proper byline at the top. No human to take responsibility for it. But I scrolled down and found a name at the bottom: Brad Shankar.
Who is he? Brad is credited as the editor – and is apparently the sole proprietor – of MobileSyrup, an all-Canadian blog focused on mobile technology…
“We have an odd history of writing about weird fast food at MobileSyrup. Why, you might ask? Well, they’re often the most-read stories on our website. If I’ve left any legacy during my almost 10 years at the publication, I hope I’m remembered for weird content like this.”
His profile says he went to high school at Lorne Park Collegiate in Mississauga. I went to Port Credit Secondary, just one school to the east. We were arch football rivals.
I covered the launch of Tim’s new Pizza menu, too. So it seems natural that he and I should face off on the pizza front, as well.
What he said…
“But on to my mini-review of Tim Hortons’ not-entirely disgusting pizza. In short, it’s fine, although a bit too greasy for my taste.”
This approach is just poor journalistic strategy. Giving away the ‘final verdict’ in the lede. Why would anyone bother to read further? Maybe that’s a little harsh. But wait…
‘It’s like Air Canada’s in-flight pizza’
I’ve never tasted Air Canada’s in-flight pizza. But I’ve seen pictures. And I can’t agree that Tim’s pie looks anything like AC’s.
‘Like everything Tim’s sells, the pizza is aggressively mediocre’
This kind of ‘smear’ is not real criticism. It’s an expression of animosity. The kind of animosity that is often precipitated by disappointment.
A real journalist doesn’t go into something like a food review with prior expectations. Let the dish speak for itself. ‘Yea’ or ‘nay’. And if the verdict is ‘nay’, at least mention any up side you can see. Offer suggestions about how dish could be improved. That’s called ‘balance’.
‘It didn’t make me feel sick, so I feel like a winner’
“Like everyone else in Canada, I had low expectations for Tim Hortons’ pizza, but to my surprise, it’s… not bad?” On what basis could he possibly claim to know what ‘everyone else in Canada’ thinks of Tim’s new pizzas?
And his comment that, “to my surprise, it’s… not bad,” is just ‘damning with faint praise’. A cheap trick employed by sensationalists and curmudgeons.
My take
It’s a shame that Mr. Shankar sat down at the keyboard seething with disappointment. The result is less a review than an out and out troll.
“Overall, I just question why you’d ever buy it,” Shankar sums up, in an unmissable large-type, italicised pull quote.
So why does he admit, more than once in his article, that ‘it’s not that bad’?
Brad may be an energetic, enthusiastic writer. But he’s not a journalist. Or a critic.
Thanks for bearing with me while I got that off my chest…
~ Maggie J.