WyBlog

Olive Garden backtracks, tries to have it both ways

A spokesman for Olive Garden restaurants has now backtracked on the earlier report that they have cancelled all advertising on The Late Show with David Letterman. Politico is now reporting that the earlier statement regarding their Letterman advertising policies were made by someone who is "unauthorized to speak for the company".

That must be some press office they run over there. "The individual listed as the press contact on the company's website" is "not authorized to speak for the company." So Mr. Jeffers, what exactly is the purpose of having a "press contact"?

Here's what I think.

Olive Garden's Letterman ad buy did run its course. They decided to capitalize on that in conjunction with our protests. By saying they were reacting to our concerns they sought to curry favor with us. Now, their revised statement is designed to play to Letterman's supporters. They're not currently advertising on his show, but they might, or might not do so in the future. Presumably they'll decide what to do if and when the furor over his remarks has died down.

Nice try Mr. Jeffers. You threw one of your employees under a bus in an attempt to placate both sides of this controversy. But you didn't say what your future plans are. That's the real issue now. Will you advertise on Letterman again, or won't you? It's a simple question.

It's also a question to which I'm afraid we are unlikely to receive a straight answer.

Ed Morrissey at Hot Air has more, including yet another email from an Olive Garden spokesman implying that they will not purchase any more ads on Letterman's show.

I'll be following the Memeorandum thread for the latest updates.

Posted at 23:10 by Chris Wysocki   []   Comments | Archived | Perm Link |
Technorati Tags: Letterman boycott Olive+Garden   |   Tweet