Doll bar owner bares all in ‘StripAdvisor’ protest

Wednesday 31 July 2019

The patron of a Saint Malo café infamous with Jersey daytrippers for its 2,800-doll décor has turned his attention to battling ‘unreliable’ TripAdvisor – armed with pig trotter platters, and photos of his derrière.

Jean-Jacques Samoy usually spends his day-to-day serving visitors to his bric-a-brac bar La Java – but, instead of playing with marionettes, in recent weeks he’s been toying with the global review site.

The fall-out started when the site ranked La Java, which receives hundreds of visits from islanders and other ferry tourists every year, 112th out of more than 360 Saint Malo establishments for its cuisine – despite the bar not serving food.

TripAdvisor ignored Mr Samoy's plea to be removed from the ranking, prompting him to retaliate by baring more than just his teeth.

In protest against the reputational damage he says can be caused by the site and its critical commenters, the proprietor posted a series of naked portraits snapped in La Java to Facebook, advising the bar's 15,000 followers: "Truthfully, I'm telling you one has to be superhuman to put up with the cruelty, the mud-slinging, the daily gossip every day of your life until death... So, to all those who brand me a tourist bar (as if it's such a terrible thing to serve lovely people from all over the world!), and as self-centred, smug, temperamental, even fascist, I can offer you no more than... My arse."

The sentiment was welcomed by like-minded business owners in the area, who then joined Mr Samoy earlier this month in giving the review site their own "sourire vertical" ('vertical smile').

But the so-called "StripAdvisor" protest wasn't his only course of action – Mr Samoy also invited faux-patrons to post reviews to the site to help him jump up the rankings.

The bogus reviews – which included praise for serving "the best pigs trotters I have ever eaten" – helped La Java to slide to a top ten position in the rankings before Trip Advisor caught on.

However, as of this week, new comments have now been suspended.

A note from TripAdvisor on La Java's page reads: "Due to a recent event that has attracted media attention and has caused an influx of review submissions that do not describe a first-hand experience, we have temporarily suspended publishing new reviews for this listing. If you've had a firsthand experience at this property, please check back soon - we're looking forward to receiving your review!"

La Java has now dropped one place lower than its original ranking: to 113th.

Pictured: Jean-Jacques Samoy captured in his iconic Saint Malo venue, La Java. (Lisa Samoy/Facebook/La Java)