A bakery was forced to put up a sign asking customers to stop taking photos and videos of staff.
Pigeon Whole Bakers in Hobart recently put up a laminated sign on its counter saying visitors were increasingly filming staff doing their jobs.
The sign reads, “We love that you share your enthusiasm for Pigeon Whole Bakers on social media, but to protect the privacy of our staff, please do not include their faces when taking photos or videos.”
Tori Burnie co-manages the company, founded by baker Jay Patey in 2011.
He said the problem was that workers were not asked beforehand if they were okay to be filmed while working within the private business.
“You’re working, packing pastries, handing someone their coffee and you look up and they’re filming the interaction,” Ms Burnie told the ABC.
“That’s how you know, you look up and the camera is in front of you.”
Popular Hobart bakery Pigeon Whole Bakery has put up signs in its store asking customers not to film staff.
Pigeon Whole Bakers has been featured as one of the best breakfast spots in Tassie in multiple street press publications and has received rave reviews on Discover Tasmania, Tripadvisor and Foodtourist, among others.
This has helped the bakery become hugely popular with locals and visitors, but while the increase in business is welcome, it has brought other challenges.
Patey said in recent years a steady stream of tourists, in particular, would film the store as content for their social media feeds.
He said that while some focused on the food, many were also filming staff serving customers, placing products on shelves and even filming the entire store, including other customers.
Patey said that while he appreciated online word of mouth, he had a responsibility to protect staff privacy while at work.
“We don’t know what the intent is, it could be for Instagram, it could be a live stream… it could be used for someone’s weird little collection of videos and photos,” Patey said.
Bakery founder Jay Patey said his first responsibility was to his staff and making sure they felt comfortable.
The company said that once customers know the sign, they are generally happy to put away their phones.
The bakery situation, however, highlights the broader issue of consent to being filmed for social media.
In 2022, an Australian woman claimed she felt “dehumanized” after becoming the subject of a viral online video.
A 22-year-old TikTokker approached her in a Melbourne food court while she was sitting alone and gave her a bouquet of flowers in what he claimed was a “random act of kindness”.
In reality, he had just asked her to keep them for him, but the clip racked up more than 60 million views in just a few weeks.
The woman, who had minded her own business before being thrust into the global spotlight, said she was offended and found the video’s premise sexist and ageist.
“It’s the patronizing assumption that women, especially older women, will be excited when some stranger gives them flowers,” she said.
The bakery said customers typically quickly put away their phones after staff pointed out the sign.
Similarly, that same year, Australian mother Evie Farrell wrote for Mamamia that she had been filmed while working out at her gym and posted as part of her content, despite specifically telling staff she did not want to do so.
‘My friends were upset too. They kept seeing themselves on social media too, but they felt stuck; “They didn’t like it, but they didn’t want to make a fuss,” he wrote.
While it is legal to film people in public in Australia, within a business it is only legal if the owner allows it and has the right to ask you to leave if you do not comply.
Dr Kevin Swarts, a marketing professor at the University of Tasmania, said the problem is essentially that bosses are simply aware that staff or customers may be uncomfortable and take action.
He said that managers who keep their staff happy not only retain staff but are more successful in the long run than their competitors.
