Pigeon Whole Bakers, Hobart: Owner forced to put up sign to protect staff

A bakery has had to put up a sign asking customers to stop taking photos and videos of staff.

Pigeon Whole Bakers in Hobart recently placed a laminated sign on the counter saying staff were increasingly being filmed by visitors as they went about their business.

The sign reads: “We love you sharing 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-leads the company, which was founded in 2011 by baker Jay Patey.

She said the problem was that employees were not asked in advance if they could be filmed while working in the private company.

“You’re working, bagging 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 your face.”

Pigeon Whole Bakers has been featured in several street press publications as one of Tassie’s most popular breakfast spots and has received rave reviews on the likes of Discover Tasmania, Tripadvisor and Foodtourist.

This has made the bakery extremely popular with locals and visitors, but while the increase in sales has been welcome, it has also brought other challenges.

Mr Patey said that especially in recent years, a steady stream of tourists would film the store as content for their social media.

He said while some focused on the food, many also filmed staff as they served customers, put products on the shelves and even filmed the entire store, including other customers.

Mr Patey said he appreciates online word of mouth, but he has a responsibility to protect the privacy of his staff at work.

“We don’t know what the purpose is, it could be for Instagram, it could be for live streaming… 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 are aware of the sign, they are usually happy to put their phones away.

However, the bakery’s situation highlights the larger issue of consent to be filmed for social media.

In 2022, an Australian woman claimed she felt “dehumanized” after becoming the subject of an online viral video.

A 22-year-old TikTokker walked up to her at a food court in Melbourne as she sat alone and gave her a bouquet of flowers, which he said was a “random act of kindness.”

In fact, he had just asked her to hold them for him, but the clip was viewed more than 60 million times 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 a patronizing assumption that women, especially older women, will be happy if a random stranger gives them flowers,” she said.

The bakery said customers usually put their phones away quickly after staff pointed out the sign

Similarly, that same year, Australian mum Evie Farrell wrote for Mamamia that she had been filmed working out at her gym and had posted this as part of their content – despite specifically telling staff she wasn’t wild.

‘My friends were annoyed too. They also continued to see themselves on social media, but they felt stuck – they didn’t like it, but they didn’t want to make a fuss about it,” she 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 they are well within their rights to ask you to leave if you don’t follow the rules.

Dr. Kevin Swarts, a marketing lecturer at the University of Tasmania, said the problem is essentially about bosses being aware that staff or customers may feel uncomfortable and taking action.

He said managers who keep their staff happy not only retain staff, but are more successful than their competitors in the long run.