Adventures in Lame Viral Marketing, Courtesy of Ruby Tuesday
Yesterday, Ruby Tuesday punked us all by promising to broadcast a live video of them blowing up one of their restaurants "as a symbol of their commitment to change," but instead, Ruby Tuesday "accidentally" blew up the fake chain restaurant next door. On YouTube, newly created users (aka Ruby Tuesday plants) posted videos of the "accident," and later that day, an apology letter was posted on rubytuesday.com
Today, a video appears on their homepage with "Jim Robbins, senior VP of marketing," reading off cue cards, "apologizing" to Cheeky's Bar and Grill for the accidental destruction.
The marketers went as far as creating a lame, nonworking website for Cheeky's (created July 3, WHOIS records report), that reads:
Due to recent events, The Cheeky's Bar and Grill website is unavailable at this time.
If you witnessed the August 5 incident in which Ruby Tuesday, Inc. demolished our restaurant, please contact us at cheekys@cheekysbarandgrill.com
Contacting the email address on the Cheeky's website gets you an autoreply that reads:
Thank you for writing Cheeky's Bar and Grill. A representative might respond to your query within the next 48 hours. However, please note, response times may be even longer for inquiries regarding the incident that took place on Tuesday, August 5. Thank you.
Sincerely,
Your Friends at Cheeky's
This whole affair seems amateurish and poorly orchestrated in comparison to viral marketing campaigns of the past. Ruby Tuesday arguably botched what could have been a complicated, humorous campaign, and this whole debacle shows how talented and clever you need to be to successfully pull off viral marketing stunts.
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12 Comments:
If you're suggesting that RT botched what could have been a complicated, humorous campaign, you'll get no argument from me.
jeninewsbite at 11:08AM on 08/06/08
Geez guys, could you try any harder? This campagin is about as hip as Full House-era Bob Saget on a skateboard.
JudgeFudge at 11:33AM on 08/06/08
They are ounding home the point that Ruby Tuesday's sux! It would be more succesful if they just said - "hey Come and try our restaurant - at least you know it will suck", and then you won't be dissapointed!
GingerSnap at 11:38AM on 08/06/08
RT couldn't even get the timing correct. It was supposed to happen at 3pm and yet, when I went to the site at 2:30pm, the video was playing.
jonfoxx at 11:48AM on 08/06/08
Anyone know who their agency is? I'd love to know who's responsible for this debacle.
sixsonnets at 12:10PM on 08/06/08
And yet, here's everyone talking about it.
ccbweb at 12:29PM on 08/06/08
I am too confused by this campaign to comment...viral marketing is aptly named. Probably they should just ride the coattails of others' creativity, like Matt Harding's dancing video or the "Dude" guy.
sugarstack at 12:39PM on 08/06/08
Why do I think this whole thing started when someone ran into someone's office yelling "Boss, I got it!"
These things always do.
annien at 12:50PM on 08/06/08
I say we get together and open a Cheeky's!
RichardCrystal at 1:23PM on 08/06/08
I don't see why it was messed up as it is getting tons of press, lots of people found it funny and or stupoid and it does make the point that they are different.
love2cook at 1:36PM on 08/06/08
I think it's cute. It's certainly not "viral" as "viral" campaigns are not announced, what this is is "fake", that's all.
seadkdc at 9:46PM on 08/06/08
Being stupid and getting press isn't really great. I'd specifically NOT purchase something if I see a stupid commercial. Even if it does stick in my head, I just think of how stupid it is each time I think about it. I'd consider that an unsuccessful ad campaign.
They were getting plenty of press in anticipation of the blowing up. So they should have just done it. The cost of the physical structure couldn't really be that much. It's got to be less than the amount of business they lose by people who are turned off by the ad. Especially considering how they were promoting the blowing up of the restaurant as a demonstration of their commitment.
Not only did they not blow up their restaurant...they didn't even blow up an actual building. They blew up a model. That's so very committed I can't even believe it.
wunami at 10:27PM on 08/08/08