A food influencer has been accused of asking for free food from a family-owned business in Texas after he posted a negative review on his socials, where he claimed that the chicken was “frozen.” The man criticized the meal and filmed himself running over the food with his vehicle but has since received backlash after the food truck operator shared security footage appearing to show the man asking the business for a free meal. TikTok influencer, “MrFreeskiPYO,” claimed that he had “wasted $30 at a food truck near Prairie View campus,” in Texas. Filming in his car, the influencer, who has roughly 90,000 followers on TikTok, claimed that the wings and burger from Fat Wingz & More were “frozen,” and that the wings had not been marinated and had “no taste.” Fat Wingz & More responded to the influencer “I came to see what the hype was about; it wasn’t about nothing,” the man said. He then filmed himself backing his car over the food box. However, days after he posted his review, the food truck he bought the food from posted a video to its official TikTok account. The video, which seems to have come from a security camera on the food truck, showed the influencer approach the worker and show his phone to them. A screenshot of a text message between the worker and what was presumably the manager revealed that the influencer was showing his TikTok page; a text from the worker read, “he want it for free.” In the footage, he can be heard saying, “I usually charge $250.” He was also heard asking the worker if a manager was present; when she told him no he asked if they could call one of the managers. Later in the video, he told the workers he was going to be “thorough” with his review because he “had to pay.” He also said that if it tasted “like frozen food,” he would say. Influencers and restaurants Restaurant reviewers and food influencers can be beneficial to a business and are frequently used in the promotion strategy to attract new customers, according to a study that analyzed the impact of Instagram influencer marketing in the restaurant industry. The study, which was published on ScienceDirect.com, found that, when the right influencer was chosen, every $1 spent in marketing could generate $17.50. However, this is typically the case with influencers who have a great level of trust with their followers. It’s unclear whether a positive review from MrFreeskiPYO would have had an impact on Fat Wingz. The influencer has not responded to the backlash online, although his videos have since had the comments turned off.