Red Robin restaurant pulls ad about garden burger

Mr Crunchy

Mr Crunchy

Forum Legend
Joined
Nov 2, 2012
Reaction score
362
Location
At the beach
Don't know if this is the correct place to post this. Red Robin, a US burger restaurant, has pulled an advertisement that some found offensive.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/17/red-robin-garden-burger_n_3455739.html

"With 24 different burgers, Red Robin caters to a lot of different tastes. They even have a garden burger just in case your teenage daughter is going through a phase."

Thoughts?

Personally, I find TV commercials annoying in general and avoid watching TV as much as possible. So I find this one only slightly more offensive than usual. I have eaten at RR on many occasions and always appreciated that they had multiple, delicious veggie options, so I'm willing to cut them some slack.

What I find surprising is that a company that is trying to target veg*ns in their advertisement would insult them with such a condescending remark in the very same ad. Someone in the marketing department needs to rethink their approach.
 
I think it's stupid and I'm glad somebody woke up and pulled the ad. They could have gotten all defensive and said "What's the big deal? A lot of teenage girls are vegetarian. We offer something for them!" :shrug:

RR is like a lot of family restaurant chains (Denny's, Coco's, Ruby Tuesday, etc.) in that they have a veggieburger on the menu, but they usually don't advertise that fact, and certainly not with a stupid ad like that.

I think whoever came up with the ad idea probably doesn't know any vegetarians and thought it was hilarious. Either that, or they have a teenage daughter in the family who's a vegetarian and is convinced she's just going through a phase, even though she probably insisted she's not.

ETA: See the comment I posted on HuffPost. :D
 
I think maybe it's more they feared that by saying they had a veggie burger that some omnies would get offended and think that they were being called murderers, so they had to make it look like they weren't endorsing vegetarianism.
 
They're not marketing to veg*ns, they're marketing to omnis that may have family members who won't eat regular burgers, now the omnis know they can bring the family.

The ad is annoying though on many levels, I mean all veg*ns must be teenage girls going through phases... Jesus.
 
  • Like
Reactions: thefadedone, PTree15 and Amy SF
Blobbenstein said:
I think maybe it's more they feared that by saying they had a veggie burger that some omnies would get offended and think that they were being called murderers, so they had to make it look like they weren't endorsing vegetarianism.
Click to expand...

Pfft I don't think so. I think they just thought the ad was funny.

For heaven's sake, there are so many veggieburgers in the stores these days that the idea of a veggieburger is rarely offensive to omnis. You can find them in the mainstream supermarkets. In Wal-Mart and Target. And it's not just veg*ans who buy them, but also omnis who want less animal fats in their diet for a variety of reasons. Which means that these restaurants probably have a few omni customers who will order a veggieburger because their doctor told them to lose weight or something.
 
A lot of restaurants here don't have veggieburgers, especially not vegan ones. I didn't know red robin did, I've never been there, but now I will suggest it when dining with omnis at a burger joint. Better than fries and iceberg lettuce. ;) In my phase of veganism at 55 years old. ;)
 
  • Like
Reactions: PTree15 and RabbitLuvr
Also, if we're going to make fun of omnis, as we do, we probably shouldn't get offended when omnis make fun of us.
 
  • Like
Reactions: RabbitLuvr
According to the RR spokesperson: "the intent of the ad was to remind our guests again that Red Robin serves meatless options too." I took that to mean it was targeted to veg*ns, but could also be just those who are "health conscious". It didn't occur to me that the it was meant for omnis who have a veg*n friend or family member, but that rings true considering the delivery.

The RR where I live has both garden and boca burgers. Plus the wait staff has been super helpful in finding cruelty free options on their menu for me.
 
  • Like
Reactions: thefadedone and ledboots
Mr Crunchy said:
According to the RR spokesperson: "the intent of the ad was to remind our guests again that Red Robin serves meatless options too." I took that to mean it was targeted to veg*ns, but could also be just those who are "health conscious". It didn't occur to me that the it was meant for omnis who have a veg*n friend or family member, but that rings true considering the delivery.

The RR where I live has both garden and boca burgers. Plus the wait staff has been super helpful in finding cruelty free options on their menu for me.
Click to expand...

I've only been to Red Robin once since going veg*n, but that was the experience I had that one time.

As for the commercial, I don't care, since I feel advertising in general is a shitty industry of awful people pandering to the lowest common denominator.
 
  • Like
Reactions: kazyeeqen
Snowcone said:
I've only been to Red Robin once since going veg*n, but that was the experience I had that one time.

As for the commercial, I don't care, since I feel advertising in general is a shitty industry of awful people pandering to the lowest common denominator.
Click to expand...

I agree. For example, I am equally, if not more offended by beer commercials that are written be people who seem to assume that men:

1. are really stupid
2. think about nothing other than beer, procreation and sports
 
ledboots said:
A lot of restaurants here don't have veggieburgers, especially not vegan ones. I didn't know red robin did, I've never been there, but now I will suggest it when dining with omnis at a burger joint. Better than fries and iceberg lettuce. ;) In my phase of veganism at 55 years old. ;)
Click to expand...

Agreed
 
I don't find the ad offensive, but I do find it stupid and annoying. Clearly whoever came up with it is clueless and misinformed. I'm glad they removed the ad since it only perpetuates the myth that vegetarianism is just a phase young girls experiment with.

I don't live near a Red Robin, but I would check it out if I'm ever in the area of one. I've read many positive reviews on their vegan burger (which is a bigger than normal boca burger) and other vegan offerings.
 
Amy SF said:
Pfft I don't think so. I think they just thought the ad was funny.
Click to expand...

well maybe, but imagine a shop that sells chocolate making an ad.....the first 90% of the ad talks about their delicious chocolates, but near the end of the ad, would they say 'and we also have some delicious chocolate made with non-slave trade coco for the ethical customer.", or maybe they might prefer to downplay that and just talk about people going through a political phase.:shrug:
 
  • Like
Reactions: Danielle
It is irritating, but when I hear something like that I am more likely to think "What? Theres a veggie burger there?" That is how desperate I am to find good food options.
 
The ad is stupid. I've never had their garden burger but I've had their vegan boca burger a few times and it's delicious!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom
Back