Thursday, June 18, 2009

Olive Garden pulls Letterman ads - They obviously don't want my business, anymore

UPDATE 6/19/09: Politico screwed up (or "The Olive Garden backtracked") Take your pick.

Either way: Olive Garden Says It Did Not Cancel Ads on Letterman Show
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From POLITICO:
In an e-mail to a Letterman critic obtained by POLITICO, a spokeswoman for the Italian restaurant chain wrote that “there will be no more Olive Garden ads scheduled for ‘The Late Show’ with David Letterman in this year's broadcast schedule,” citing the talk show host’s “inappropriate comments.”

“We apologize that Mr. Letterman’s mistake, which was not consistent with our standards and values, left you with a bad impression of Olive Garden,” wrote Sherri Bruen, the company’s guest relations manager.

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Conservative radio host John Ziegler, who previously interviewed Palin for his film “Media Malpractice: How Obama Got Elected and Palin Was Targeted,” organized a lightly attended protest Tuesday outside the “Late Show” studio.

Ziegler has listed contact information for 14 advertisers on Letterman’s show, including Olive Garden, on his website dedicated to the comedian’s firing. He called the news an “obvious victory” but vowed to continue “our quest for some sense of accountability for Letterman in this matter.”

Read more: Olive Garden pulls Letterman ads

As I said in a comment elsewhere, "Maybe it made sense once, but now that the aggrieved parties accepted [Letterman's] apology, it's just lookin' vindictive. I never did eat at an Olive Garden, before but I never had a reason not to. Allowing one's company to be bullied into submission to the point that they do something vindictive is reason enough for me..."

Guess I'll be makin' my own darn breadsticks...

Others talking about it: memeorandum

4 comments:

Joe "Truth 101" Kelly said...

Olive Garden is incredibly overrated. Pasta House is far better. For that matter, Fazolis is just as good.

Anonymous said...

Ah respac3....here is where I have to disagree with you.

I enjoy Olive Garden, the salad rocks, but that's not where the disagreement is! :-)

I think when you put yourself out there like Letterman did you either reap the awards when things are going good and suffer the consequences when you screw up. Olive Garden deciding to pull out was a business decision and I rather thought it was ballsy (for total lack of a better word)and I actually respect them for it. Whether they were pressured or just took a moral stance we will never really know.

When Imus screwed up people called for his firing and sponsors pulled out and I didn't blame them just as I don't blame any sponsors bailing out on Dave.

I know it isn't exactly the same thing but it's still about dealing with the repercussions of what comes out of your mouth.

Hey, I thought you were tired of this whole thing....stop posting on it!! No more Letterman for you young man!!!!!!

Cause I can't help but responding! :-)

repsac3 said...

Truth (What, no kind & gentle, any more?):
I don't got no Pasta House's or Fazoli's here on Long Island... ;...( ...but I'll figure out something...

Actually, I'm not much for the cookie-cutter places anyway, which is probably why I've never been to an Olive Garden. Especially for Italian, I prefer family owned places, with the family name (or somebody's first name) on the awning... In my experience anyway, Antonelli's or Luigi's is going to have better food...

("Truth's Fine Italian Cuisine"? I don't know, my friend, but I tend to doubt it...)

Jennifer:
I have no problem with people (or businesses, for that matter) protesting or otherwise reacting to the words and/or deeds of others (Including The Olive Garden--and whether it be the pressure of the anti-Letterman crowd, or their own decision, based on their own sense of right & wrong, that got them there.) In fact, I'm very much in favor of putting your money where your values are, and there's a whole lot of places that have either earned or lost my business, based on political or social aspects having nothing to do with their products or services.

Olive Garden was either pushed by people who have an opinion on the wrong Letterman did, or they themselves believe Letterman did wrong. That's fine.

But I have a sense of right and wrong, too. And I find their pulling their ads, especially at this stage in the story, to be offensive.

Also, I do think this is like the Imus story. And my reaction then was pretty much the same... [SEE: Free Speech, Imus, & the Free Market] He did wrong, but he shouldn't lose his job over it. I was kinda pissed that he did, too.

People were offended by Letterman, and asked that The Olive Garden pull their ads. The Olive Garden wants to keep these folk's business, so they pull the ads. I don't approve of The Olive Garden pulling those ads, so I avoid going there, and blog about it here. Someone else sees my blog post, and perhaps stops reading my blog, or something...There's repercussions to everything we do... ...every one of us. And I can live with that...

As far as stopping... Yeah, I know... But this is kind of a different story, isn't it?

Sort of?

No?

Alright... Guilty as charged... I'll see what I can do... As long as no other business succumbs to the pressure...

Joe "Truth 101" Kelly said...

I figured my reputation for kindness, gentleness and benevolence was so vast I didn't need to advertise it anymore Repsac.

Oh yes;

Excellent posts you've been posting Repsac. God bless you for your real Americanism.