Screengrab of a video circulating on social media where a staff of the fastfood Chinese restaurant selling their items on the street to boost sales and allegedly meet quota.
MANILA, Philippines – Fastfood Chinese restaurant Chowking has issued a statement on Sunday in response to the viral TikTok video showing one of its staff scouring the streets of Ecoland in Davao City to allegedly meet her quota for the day.
According to the uploader of the video, the staff is from Chowking SM Ecoland and is taking orders outside of the restaurant in an effort to grow the sales of the branch which was “going slow.”
The video also captured the staff narrating how she would use her own money for fare to take and deliver orders.
Since the video went viral on Saturday, it had already amassed over three million views as of posting time.
https://www.tiktok.com/@cabralmaria__/video/7305197715120491782
In response, Chowking said that it has asked the store to “place the said activity on hold” while it is reviewing the guidelines to ensure that the “outside-of-store” order taking has complied with their standards.
“At Chowking, upholding ethical standards in conducting business is a core commitment, and the safety and well-being of our team members remain our top priority,” the statement continued.
But netizens are quick to point out that such a practice is unfair especially if the staff is using her own money to get around.
X (formerly twitter) user @andersonjhaden stressed that the staff is overworked yet underpaid.
“All these efforts for a meager salary, Overworked and underpaid,” they said in a mix of Filipino and English.
https://twitter.com/andersonjhaden/status/1728278318003474921
For @jaymazingwalk, the staff’s safety should be prioritized.
“For me, kung may ganung strategy, sana mapangalagaan ang safety nung staff. Imagine maglakad may dalang cellphone at pera yung tao, hindi natin masabi, madami pede mangyari sa kalsada,” they said.
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(For me, if there’s such a strategy, I hope it prioritizes the safety of the staff. Imagine someone walking carrying a cellphone and money, we can’t predict what might happen on the street.)
May statement na ang chowking.Tinanggal ba si Shiela?Yun na lang ang dapat linawin.
For me, kung may ganung strategy, sana mapangalagaan ang safety nung staff.
Imagine maglakad may dalang cellphone at pera yung tao, hindi natin masabi, madami pede mangyari sa kalsada. pic.twitter.com/o2NbpIcVvi
— ALTbatR0SE (@jaymazingwalk) November 26, 2023
Some netizens also said that “outside-of-store” order-taking is not a new practice and is not only being done by Chowking.
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“That’s true. I did this when I was at Greenwich Dasma. We called it ‘OOT (outside order-take).’ We would go to offices, municipalities, establishments just to take orders. You also have a target sales to meet there. It’s part of the job, but I don’t know. If you’re good at public relations, you win. But if not, you get nothing,” X user @rye_espina04 said.
Totoo to. I did this when i was in Greenwich Dasma. We call it “OOT (outside order-take)”. We would go to offices, munisipyos, establishments, para lang kumuha ng orders. May target sales din ikaw jan. Part of the job pero, I don’t know. Kung ma-PR ka, panalo. Pero if not, nganga
— ʀʏᴀɴ ᴄ. ᴇsᴘɪɴᴀ 艾斯那® (@rye_espina04) November 25, 2023
The staff on the viral video is yet to comment on the issue.