If you really think about it, Dua Lipa is to blame for the whole mess. She is the one who turned the small Parisian wine bar Folderol, once a local insider tip, into a global phenomenon. Not only did the singer praise the bar in an interview as one of her favorite places in the City of Love, she also posted a picture on Instagram that showed her drinking wine there. The image has since been deleted. But the damage was done. The bar had already become a viral hit. It didn’t take long for Tiktokers to arrive in droves. Unfortunately for the owners, who are now doing everything they can to get rid of the unwelcome guests.
The little folderol has now had more than 95 million views on Tiktok. From an economic point of view, this is actually equivalent to a jackpot. Because the bar, which specializes in natural wine and handmade ice cream, was no longer able to save itself from guests. For the owners, the married couple Jessica Yang and Robert Compagnon, this quickly turned into a nightmare. Guests came who ordered their orange wine or olive oil ice cream in the bar just for a photo, only to finally decorate their TikTok account with the perfect picture, tagged with the hashtag Folderol. And it didn’t take long before the entire neighborhood suffered from the numerous new guests.
The problem: The wine bar is so small that it doesn’t even fit tables. There is also no terrace. So the new guests quickly converted the area in front of the bar into a “corner spot”. “Suddenly it became a thing where people just sat on the ground outside,” Compagnon tells Business Insider. To the discomfort of the neighbors. They felt disturbed by the crowds. Especially in the evening. There was always trouble with the police because of the noise. Regular guests soon became so annoyed by the constant snapping around for social media that they stopped coming. “It’s kind of scary when you only have one type of guest who scares away the other guests,” says Compagnon.
In addition, the new guests seem to come solely because of the hype and not because they appreciate what the bar has to offer. Yang told the New York Times that they didn’t even actually try the ice cream: “They just let it melt into a liquid in a bowl and die in the sun.” A contradiction to what the couple had wanted. They wanted to build a reputation with the quality of their products, says Compagnon: “We didn’t see it that way.”
The attention boost ensured that the Folderol reached its capacity limits. The kitchen is too small to meet the increasing demand. Customers sometimes waited for hours to be served. The staff soon became overwhelmed. Yang and Compagnon pulled the ripcord and introduced a strict “no Tiktok” policy. There is now a sign at the entrance that points this out. Eating and drinking in front of the door is now prohibited. A bouncer was also hired. Although the measures will not be taken too harshly, the aim is to allow a more mixed audience to be accommodated in the bar again.
The decision against the Tiktokers feels like saying no to money, Compagnon tells “Business Insider”. Although the new anti-Tiktok strategy hasn’t really borne fruit yet. On the contrary. Instead of staying away, a new Tiktok trend has now developed. Anyone who still manages to get into the bar will be celebrated on the platform.
Sources: New York Times, Business Insider
