D
estroying their reputation, facing nationwide criticism, becoming a laughing stock, getting boycotted all over town and making the front page of Reddit -- it almost feels like Rapture Nightclub was the only player in a game of business-failing bingo.
The situation started with a recent patron of Rapture sending the club a message about her drink being spiked while there on a night out. If it wasn’t already bad enough for her, the screenshot of Rapture’s unsympathetic, sarcastic response no doubt made things worse.
Shocking right? You don’t need an expert to tell you this is the worst possible response Rapture could have given, and it’s clear club owner Neil Scott spent all of two minutes working out all the different ways he could say “get f**ked you weren’t spiked” while being as disrespectful as possible.
The screenshot began rapidly spreading around social media, and within a couple hours it went viral. In the space of a day the club has received dozens of negative reviews on Facebook, been chastised by media outlets and become the laughing stock of the week, all of which, in most opinions, is absolutely deserved given the context.
Business owners everywhere need to understand - this is 2019. In this digital age you have to remember that you can, and will be held accountable for literally everything you do on social media. The ability to screenshot, repost, share & spread content in mere seconds is exactly why companies pay people to make sure they don’t fuck up on the incredibly public forum that is the internet.
That being the case, who the hell thought putting an arrogant, homeless-person shaming, sarcastic and obviously uncaring businessman in charge of Rapture’s PR was a good idea? Seriously, my three year old nephew could have come up with a better response and he can’t even spell his name properly.
The last thing I want to do is use this platform to add fuel to this fiery witch hunt, but no matter how hard you look, you’ll find nothing that justifies Mr Scotts behaviour in this situation. Actions like this are exactly what people need to be held accountable for, and if, as a nightclub owner, you show such a lack of care for the well being of your patrons, you deserve every ounce of criticism that happens to swing your way.
Since the original post gained viral status the internet has wasted no time showing their disdain for Rapture, with all manner of events and memes circulating people's feeds. With petitions to boycott the club rapidly gaining signatures, it just kept going from bad to worse as more ill advised screenshots of the clubs Facebook messages emerged.
It took 300 years for The Roman Empire to collapse, but Rapture managed it in less than 24 hours. How times have changed.
Rapture messed up in extraordinary fashion, and after 24 hours of complete silence, the closest thing we’ve got to a response is from star of the moment Neil Scott calling into ABC Radio - and if they weren’t f**ked before, they are now. The five minute interview can be found here, and it seems that instead of using it as an opportunity to recover, Mr Scott has all but guaranteed Rapture’s gruesome death. The bulk of his response can be summarised by a select few quotes;
“I got a long message, and I just looked at it & thought God almighty. There was no chance she’d had her drink spiked, it was just an 18 year old girl being silly.”
“It was just absolute rubbish that she’d had her drink spiked, and I just tongue-in-cheek responded to her the same way, and she decided to post it and of course it’s gone viral.”
When asked why he responded the way he did, he said; “It was definitely in response to the way she’d written to us, we already knew that no such thing had happened.”
Where he should be apologising he’s justifying, when he should be sorry he’s being critical, and where he should act professional he’s being ridiculous. Rapture Nightclub, under the bizarre ownership of Mr Scott, have done the complete opposite of what they needed to, and by now it’s almost certainly too late to save their reputation.
If you’ve ever wondered what an accidentally published guide to destroying a business in 24 hours might look like - this is it. We’ll be sure to keep you updated, but until then be sure to party safe, stay hydrated, and we’ll see you next time.