CAN YOU TRUST IT?Naming and Framing: Launching a Publicity Campaign

Media 180 - 001Jaleel Adams, Rachel Curcio,

Sean Gacevic, Minji Nam.

What We’re About Given a length of time, and for different reasons, people eat out. Either it be for graduation, or a lunch break, when people buy food, there’s a big, invisible handshake happening between the food service establishment (including food handlers) and the eater. You wouldn’t eat food handed to you by a stranger, right? People trust that restaurants handle their food the way they’d handle their own. There’s a big trust thing going on. The majority of us take it for granted that the food served to us is safe. But is it really? Can you trust it?

THE GOALWe, as a group, were set out to increase awareness on food safety, concerning food service establishments, e.g. restaurants. Specifically, we were set out to increase awareness on the NYC Health Department’s restaurant grading system. What’s in an A? B? C? Grade Pending? DO YOU KNOW?

Getting Pumped About THE CAMPAIGN

Our project started with research, and lots of it. We had to question ourselves, and the little amount we knew, didn’t help. Once we gathered all of the information together, we sought to achieve our goal by means of a poster, and fliers that would grasp our audience – Hunter students.

OUR BEAUTIFUL POSTER

With the use of bright colors , the all-familiar restaurant grades themselves (A, B, C, and Grade Pending), and thought provoking questions like “Do you know what you’re eating?”, we sought to lure students into our poster.

QUESTIONS (& ANSWERS, IN BRIEF) AS MENTIONED ON THE POSTER

1. What is a health inspection, and how does it work?- NYC’s Health Department inspection is a procedure that monitors

the restaurants’ compliance with the city and state food safety regulations. (Basically, a check-up.)

- An inspector arrives unannounced and looks for violations. Each violation is categorized within “Public Health Hazard” (min. of 7 pts.), “Critical Violation” (min. 5 pts), and “General Violation” (min. 2), with an increase in point value with the violation’s severity level.

- The sum of the violation lead to a score: A (0-13 pts); B (14-27 pts); C (28+ pts).

- Restaurants that receive a B or C has a month to better their grade, and an inspection is to be expected within a month.

MORE QUESTIONS1. What about the other thing? What is “Grade Pending”?

When a restaurant receives a grade lower than the A after an inspection, they get a sign of its letter grade and a “Grade Pending” sign. The restaurant can choose to hang either the Grade Pending sign or the letter grade until it is re-inspected. After re-inspection, most restaurants tend to score better, and get that A. However, if the grade is still below an A, the restaurant has a right to file an appeal, and until it is passed, may or may not choose to hang “Grade Pending.”

2. Who gets graded, and who doesn’t? Who does the grading?

NYC Health Department Inspectors hold BA’s with coursework in science and train for months of public health and identification of hazards that contribute to food-borne illnesses before conducting an inspection.

Restaurants, coffee shops, bars, nightclubs (basically anywhere that serves food) are inspected, and must post letter grades that correspond to their sanitary inspection scores.

In contrast, temporary food service establishments, mobile food vending units, primary and secondary school cafeterias, and charitable organizations that serve food only to their members are not inspected.

MOST SEVERE AND COMMON VIOLATIONS

Violation: Facility not vermin proof. Conditions may attract vermin to premises and/or allowing vermin to existEx 1) Severity IV - Three or more openings in the facility that allows pest entry or breeding (13 points)Ex 2) Severity V – Failure to vermin proof upon re-examinations (Health department may shut down)

Violation: Food worker does not use proper utensil to eliminate bare hand contact with foodEx) Four or more food workers preparing ready-to-eat foods with bare hands

Violation: Toxic chemical improperly labeled, stored, and contamination of food may occurEx) roach spray, bleach, butane and rat poisoning not properly labeled, and may contaminate other foods

Violation: Unprotected potentially hazardous food re-servedEx) Severity IV – Bowl of cooked rice re-served (10 points)

PITCHING, Fliers – Appeal Besides the poster, with all of its intriguing facts, our group used fliers to attract the Hunter audience. We mentioned the recent shut down of our cafeteria, something most students are aware of. Did you know that the Department of Health closed it down due to vermin activity? Our cafeteria had pests, probably rats, is that not gross?

PITCH THE CAMPAIGN – Spreading the Message~

In addition to the poster and the fliers, in order to gather data and get feedback on our campaign, we asked students to complete a quick multiple choice questionnaire. (Once before, and once after.) Here’s what they said:

STILL PITCHING – WHAT DID YOU THINK?

Sample of 30 students.

MORE OF WHAT HUNTER STUDENTS SAID

INCREASING AWARENESSThink it’s a hassle to look up restaurant grades? What about the violation? Even a bigger hassle? Nope. 3 letters: APP

Both iPhone and Android phones have apps dedicated to increasing awareness on NYC’s restaurant grade.

Life made easy – APPSiPhone – ABCEats

We challenge you to download an app.

iPhone – SafeEatsAndroid – NYRG – Restaurant Grades

KNOW IT! All food service operations get second chances.

Why settle for less than an A?

RESTAURANTS IN ALL 5 BOROUGHS (as of Jan. 2013)

Letter A: 56%Letter B: 31%Letter C: 12%

RESULTS (Gathered from questionnaire)

HAPPY PEOPLE