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‘Food terrorism’: why Japanese companies are seeking insurance to cover legal and PR fees
- Japanese insurers are reporting a rise in demand for policies to guard against so-called baito tero incidents
- Such incidents in Japan, ranging from staff wiping fingers in pizza dough to customers licking tea cups, have gone viral in the past year
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More Japanese companies are investing in insurance to cover legal fees and public relations campaigns to repair brand damage caused by unpleasant antics of customers and staff that have gone viral on social media – from stubbing out cigarettes in sushi to picking their noses and wiping fingers in pizza dough.
Such misbehaviour has been coined baito tero, a combination of arubaito, the Japanese version of the German word for “work”, and an abbreviated form of the English term “terrorism”.
While the problem was first reported in Japan around a decade ago, it attracted more attention in the past year with the emergence of “sushi terrorism” in which customers caused outrage with their unsavoury acts in restaurants, such as prodding sushi dishes in conveyer-belt outlets and licking tea cups or soy sauce bottles.
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The apparent resurgence in baito tero cases, driven by young people seeking online adulation, is forcing more companies to take precautions.
On February 14, Domino’s Pizza Japan issued a statement: “Deepest apologies to our customers for any discomfort or inconvenience caused. From now on, the entire company will do its utmost to prevent a recurrence and restore trust.”
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