At some point in the recent past, Applebee’s passed down a creative brief saying that they needed to target single women who enjoy downing cocktails at restaurants located in mall parking lots. How this target demo came to be will probably always be a mystery to us. But, we do know for certain that Applebee’s and Lexington, Kentucky-based Cornett Integrated Marketing Solutions want us to know the chain’s latest campaign, “Life is Better Shared,” may be too controversial for the easily confused, too hurtful to the social media-obsessed, and too complicated for those of us that have struggles comprehending advertising messages.
In a statement, Cornett tells us, “We launched yesterday and so far the reviews are mixed. Some good and some bad. It’s been described as ‘brilliant.’ It’s been described as ‘hilarious.’ It’s been described as ‘condescending.’ It’s been described as ‘Applebee’s thinks women need to get offline.’ I guess that’s what happens when you use social media to poke a little fun at social media.” Maybe, or that’s what happens when you have an abrasive woman named the “Girls Night Out Goddess” poke fun her female peers for interacting with each other online. Don’t they know that their time is better spent at Applebee’s?
The statement continues, “The message has been misunderstood by some and I just wanted to take a second to clear things up. Applebee’s loves social media and fully embraces it. We’re using Youtube, Twitter, Pinterest, Facebook and Tumblr to share our message and to interact with women. We totally embrace all things social media. Our message is simple – Life is better shared. Preferably face to face with your girlfriends at Applebee’s. We all know we spend a lot of time online. Our message is about balance.”
So, young ladies who like talking to each other on social media, you know the drill: Follow all of Applebee’s social media accounts, feel guilty about the time you spend online, go get sauced at your local Applebee’s, and try to live your life as much like the “Girls Night Out Goddess” as you can. If only it was easier to forget how to use computers. Two more spots follow after the jump (and we’re still waiting to see whether Applebee’s new AOR, CP+B, was involved). Update: Nope, they weren’t.
Tweet Beat from Girls Night Out Goddess on Vimeo.
The Roost from Girls Night Out Goddess on Vimeo.