A wealthy young woman becomes enraged after she’s not given the table she wants in a restaurant. Little does she know, largely thanks to the power of social media, that her subsequent petulant actions will lead to the destitution of her father, Humberto Benitez Treviño, a leading member of the ruling party and head of Mexico’s Consumer Protection Agency (Profeco).
When Andrea Benitez Gonzalez turned up with friends at Maximo Bistrot in Mexico City’s Colonia Roma three weeks ago, the eatery was full. Assigned a table she did not ask for she quickly exacted revenge. Within a couple of hours, four inspectors from Profeco arrived to slap the restaurant with a closure order for various violations. A avid user of social media, she even vented her anger at the restaurant’s poor service on Twitter.
But the Twittersphere often bites back. In this case it did with a vengeance.
Within hours, Andrea Benítez was being vilified as the worst example of the culture of entitlement in Mexico. Twitter posters dubbed her @LadyProefco. News reports of the incident traveled to every corner of the globe. The scandal grew and, of course, her father was drawn into the middle.A quick investigation was carried out and Benítez Treviño was absolved of being involved in the decision to close the restaurant. The four Profeco officials who responded to his daughter’s call for action, however, were suspended.
But the row refused to die down and President Enrique Peña Nieto eventually decided to step in, relieving Benítez Treviño of his job, because the “image of Profeco had been tarnished.”
Lesson number one for important politicos: Lock up your daughters!