Because we’re in the thick of a political season, I thought I’d take on restaurant news and politics, starting with Pizza Hut.
The pizza giant challenged attendees of the town hall style presidential debate to raise their hand and ask either of the candidates whether they prefer sausage or pepperoni on their pizza—for a chance to win free pizza for life. When I read about this in AdAge, I was struck by how absurd the idea was. I pictured a bunch of PR agency representatives (Zeno Group in this case) in the conference room batting promotional ideas around after 4 p.m. on a Friday, and someone comes up with that idea. They all look at their watches and imagine what else they would rather be doing, agree to the idea and get out of there to start their weekend.
I would file that PR idea under “just because you think you can get away with it doesn’t mean you should try.”
Thankfully, Monday came around and the idea didn’t seem so hot anymore—especially after other writers with a wider reach than me voiced their opinions. The PR agency tweaked the promotion, as noted in a new AdAge article. “Pizza Hut has announced that it is moving the toppings question online and open it up to the public. A random voter will win the lifetime pie supply.” I can see why the agency wanted the pizza question inserted in the otherwise commercial-free televised event that will draw billions of viewers from all over the planet. But for a person to actually raise his/her hand during the town hall debate and ask “sausage or pepperoni?” would smack of cheesy.
No. 2 on my radar of restaurants and politics is Olive Garden vs. Obamacare. Olive Garden’s parent, Darden, and others, are looking at the possibility of taking full-time workers down to part-time status to avoid having to pay hefty healthcare costs. Does that sound cheap? Doesn’t matter. It’s a business-economics issue that every restaurant chain is dealing with. Is this economy going to recover? Not if restaurants, the largest group of employers, have more regulations, fees and fines piled on. Of course they are going to look for ways to sidestep the added costs. According to a July 10, 2012 National Restaurant Association press release, “The NRA supports repeal of the law because of concerns that the employer mandate and associated penalties create administrative and cost burdens that could stifle growth.”
I’m just glad Olive Garden’s thoughts came out in the open now while everyone has a chance to think through the ramifications of Obamacare and make this last hurrah vote for president before the law becomes potentially irrevocable.
Tell me what you think.
Jody
