RESTAURANT PROMOTION BACKFIRES

Ruth’s Chris Steak House (* if you’ve never heard of it, that is their actual name) in Ann Arbor, Michigan, came up with a great promotion. With the University of Michigan playing Rutgers last weekend, they would offer a one percent discount for every point Michigan beat Rutgers by. So, if Michigan won by 20 points, for example, people would get 20 percent of their meals. But then, Michigan beat Rutgers by 78 points. The final score was 78 to zero. That means a 78 percent discount on their food from Sunday thru this Thursday. The restaurant stepped up and did the only thing they could: renege on their deal. They capped the discount at 50%.
* And you STILL can’t afford to eat there.
* Sure, they broke a promise, but it is the campaign season.
* Plus, maybe the Rutgers players were angling for a big night out.
* Wow, 78 to zero and it wasn’t that close.
* I love it when these genius marketing ideas go wrong.
* This is the worst promotion since that mattress store tied it in with 9/11.
* PHONE TOPIC: Did you ever work for a company whose promotion went haywire?