Update 20:08 16/05 - I've been told by a reliable source that there was an offer of a reality show on the table from Bravo before all of this crazy stuff happened. A little bit of me is starting to think 'stunt'. There's also a Reddit thread by an ex-waitress from Amy's here.
The social web was crazy yesterday for the Amy's Baking Company social meltdown story. So what's the situation now?
They've called in a PR mop-up man
It would appear that Justin Rose, well known for clearing up PR nuclear disasters, has been called in to try to save the day. A hard task! He was interviewed on Arizona radio station kdkb.com (hear the interview on the link) before it was announced that he was apparently taking up the task. In that interview, he pretty much states that Amy's has no chance of recovery and that they should shut it down. Interesting. Well, it appears he has changed his mind and is behind their next move...
The grand re-opening
Head over to their Facebook Page and you'll see details of the grand re-opening...
Will this work? They say that people will be able to see the real Amy and Samy. I'm sure that anyone can sugarcoat themselves for one night. I suggested yesterday that they donate a sum to charity for each CAPS LOCK letter they used in their Facebook activities. I was kidding, but it does seem they will be making charity donations. To a cyber-bullying charity. The mind boggles. The taking tips from servers issue seems to be the main thing on their agenda, a terrible thing to do, but I think their behaviour on Facebook is worse. That post has over 7,500 comments. Some are very funny. A lot of people said to me yesterday that it has been great for their Likes etc on Facebook. I can't help but feel that a huge amount of those are purely people wanting to watch the carnage unfold. And unfold it has! They will get next to zero value from that increased audience. What will happen next? I'll be watching closely. This is the mother of all case-studies.