The owner of a Chinese takeaway off the Newtownards Road has unveiled an audacious marketing plan which will see all customers charged £16.90 for their meals.
“For some strange reason all my customers shout ‘yeoooooo!’ when their order comes to £16.90,” says Bill Lee-Ching, who runs the Golden Panda Garden on Orange Parade in East Belfast.
“Then, when they get home, they’re all tagging our takeaway in photos of their receipts on Facebook, it’s worth a fortune in free social media advertising for us.”
“All I have to do is round the bill up or down, and if they order a lot I split the bill, then they post photos of two or three receipts!”
Mr Lee-Ching is mystified as to why his customers are so fond of the charge. “My guess is that it must be some kind of lucky number for Irish people,” he told us, “though I’ve noticed that clients from the Short Strand don’t seem to like it.”
As news of the move spread throughout the catering community, other businesses have hatched their own, similar plans.
The Ulster Fry understands that the Taj Mahone Indian restaurant on the Glen Road will now bill all customers £19.16, and Tayto are planning their production to make sure all their crisps go out of date on the 12 July.