Olive Garden "lifetime" pasta pass $400 contest - marketing genius?

[kranky]

The OG is offering a max of 24,000 $100 cards good for 9 weeks of never-ending pasta meals, and potentially the option to upgrade to a $400 lifetime option (only 50 lifetime cards available).
Regardless of whether you think their food is great or frozen and reheated swill, I have to wonder if the lifetime thing is maybe designed to be a great deal for OG, not the buyers. All those passes will sell out in less than 5 seconds.

Must dine in. No take out. Gratuity not included. Good for a pasta meal (pasta+sauce+toppings, plus breadsticks/salad).

Are people going by themselves, or is it more likely they are bringing others who will have to pay for their meals? And drinks aren't included either. If a plate of pasta+sauce+toppings costs OG $3, they are probably still making money if the pass holder brings someone else. Yeah, there will be some instagrammer eager to show off how he's eating 14 free meals a week at OG with his free pass, but that's not going to be the typical user (while ignoring that he paid $400 for the "free" meals"). And assuming the passholders are smart enough to realize they better leave a tip at a place they expect to eat at all the time, they're still laying a few bucks at every visit.

So is it a real bargain, or marketing genius? I'm leaning toward marketing genius. I think the vast majority of the passholders will not go alone and OG will make money on most of the "free" meals.

 

[Fritzo]

Obligatory Family Guy reference...

 

[Muadib]

It's marketing genius!!!! They have been doing this for a while.

 

[Perknose]

Are people going by themselves, or is it more likely they are bringing others who will have to pay for their meals?

I think the demographic of folks who do this do not have friends.

 

[kranky]

After further reflection, now I'm curious about how the restaurants get paid when people use these cards. All the money from buying the cards goes to corporate, and I doubt each OG has to just eat the whole cost of every freebie. If they get reimbursed at menu prices, I'd expect the individual OGs would be tempted to slack on the verification (show photo ID when claiming a free one to make sure you aren't sharing your pass). Has to be some type of checks/balances.

 

[deadlyapp]

After further reflection, now I'm curious about how the restaurants get paid when people use these cards. All the money from buying the cards goes to corporate, and I doubt each OG has to just eat the whole cost of every freebie. If they get reimbursed at menu prices, I'd expect the individual OGs would be tempted to slack on the verification (show photo ID when claiming a free one to make sure you aren't sharing your pass). Has to be some type of checks/balances.

Presumably they make it back at cost + some nominal margin through a reimbursement method. It wouldn't be enough margin to make it ripe for abuse by franchise owners, but also not little enough margin that they treat those customers like shit when they come in.

 

[rh71]

Wait, no meat in the pasta? WTH is that?

I've never been one to complain about chains - used to go all the time, but their quality has gone off a cliff. I hate cooking and even I can probably do better at home. Would never go to OG again. Maybe I'm used to the superior Cheesecake Factory Italian.

 

[Red Squirrel]

It actually is genius, since it's dine in only you're almost guaranteed that the customer brings other people so yeah you eat the cost of that one meal but chances are it brought someone else in. That and most people are probably not likely to abuse a card like that, they might only go like once a month at most.

 

[Raincity]

If they purchase a fountain drink or ice tea and then you already recouped most of your food cost. Add an appetizer and desert and your making money off them. This nothing new. Diners have been running all you can eat spaghetti specials mid week to fill the tables when its slow for the last 50 years.

 

[HomerJS]

Red states will eat this shit up.

No pun intended