Red Robin - "Teenage Daughter" / Garden burger - (2013) :15 (USA)

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

With a thumb hiding behind her open hand, but pointing to said teenager, and the actress herself whispering the delivery out of the side of her mouth the ancient joke that teenagers are temporarily vegetarian is shared with the hamburger-wanting target market.

And suddenly all the adult & non-temporary vegetarians found a #millionreasons to hate Red Robin. It is, to quote one vegetarian "highly disrespectful to those who want to save animal lives". These people do not patron fast food joints, where dead animals are the main product. It's "horribly offensive to vegetarians" say many, and twitter is boiling over with angry cabbage eaters, all of whom promise to never set foot in Red Robin again, as if they ever did.

Meanwhile, at Red Robin HQ they're high-fiving each other because of the 'earned media' this is getting them. Soon everyone will know they offer a garden burger, along with 23 different meaty burger variants too. Thank you, angry vegetarians, for the #milliontweets! This tame campaign had no shot in hell of trending before you guys came along.

Note: On Red Robins facebook (I almost said phasebook!) people are saying their patronage at Red Robin was just a phase. Zing!

Client: Red Robin
Principal talent: Melanie Paxson

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Sam Kauffman's picture

You truly are a fucking idiot.

Dabitch's picture

What a terrifically unexpected comment. I can see you went straight to insulting me instead of taking apart my argument. What's the matter, too weak to type anything longer than that?

Sam Kauffman's picture

There's no argument to take apart. I don't even know what this text is supposed to be aside from vitriolic drivel. So I sent you some of the same, but I didn't pull random unsourced quotes out of my ass like you.

Sam Kauffman's picture

And please don't waste your time responding to me as I only did because it was open from my previous time on the computer. I am about to delete this tab and I shan't ever be back. Some day I hope you realize that being an insensitive cunt is pointless.

kidsleepy's picture

No one cares if you closed your tab or not, silly little man. It's not like you've contributed anything of value here, anyway. What's the matter, Veg man? No Fun City getting you down?

darthclue's picture

Red Robin completely missed the mark and has no idea who their audience really is. Speaking as someone who is almost entirely anti-veg, I would never go to Red Robin for a veg-burger. That just isn't the place that screams meat-free! That said, if they are going for the 'phase' market, they might be spot on.

Disclaimer: I do tend to frequent Red Robin, often weekly, and typically order enough meat to feed a small nation. Quad-patty, bacon, and cheddar cheese, no veggies! YUM!

Dabitch's picture

I think the "phase" market is exactly who they are going for. My point above is that those vegetarians who "want to save animal lives" don't frequent establishments where 90% of the menu is meat. That would contradict their stance. People who chose to be vegetarians for other reasons may have less of an issue with a garden burger being fried up on the same grills as the angus beef one. People who have dietary restrictions due to religious grounds are likely not going to Red Robin at all.

The potential customers that they may have offended here (with a joke about teenagers, not a jab at vegetarians) are the meat-free office co-workers who might otherwise have joined in at lunch when Bossman said "burgers for lunch!" and picked Red Robin to go to.

In the #millionreasons hashtag and on Facebook there are plenty of offended vegetarians who claim they used to like the garden burger (really?) and that they'll never go back for one now. Because the waitress made a joke about teenagers being finicky.

RT Herwig's picture

Why the hate? Ad is selling 24 different burgers. They just happen to sell a veg burger. Teenage girls go thru this "vegetarian" phase. It's just a line of copy. Ad is spot on. Family target is spot on. it's Red Robin, not some niche veg restaurant. I don't see the hoopla.- RT

kidsleepy's picture

Me neither. But you know. America is the land of the Easily Offended™.

Dabitch's picture

No idea mate, a bit of a shame really as I find that Melanie Paxson does a bang-up job acting out that line, with her little thumb-point, side-mouth whisper and pointed glare. Nicely cast, Red Robin.

Dannel 's picture

That was really dumb commercial, but I don't see why people need to be upset about it. But, as Mr. Kauffman said, I don't understand what this article is supposed to do. Really, I just ended up here from a Google search; please tell me what this site's purpose is.

Dabitch's picture

The article is pointing out that the terribly offended vegetarians are inadvertently creating more press (earned media) about an ad that is based on a very old joke about teenagers phases. Word about the 24 burgers, one that can call itself vegetarian apparently, is spreading far and wide now. These people who love animals so much they chose to be vegetarian just because they love animals? I don't think they spend money in an establishment where 23 burgers are made of meat, I think that their animal-loving conscience would hinder that. In other words, I'm calling bullshit on the complaining comments made on facebook&twitter.

The Red Robin ad is making fun of teenagers and their finicky phases. The ad below is directly mocking vegetarians. "Pick your battles" my old boss used to say. He had a point.

Like here's a battle: Respect the grill. There's no tofickingway that the vegetable hot dog gets to grill next to your Johnsonville Brattender.

Now, you are aware, that I - as the site founder, creator, main programmer and resident "insensitive cunt" as you've dubbed me - can see your tofricking IP number, Kaufmann/Dannel? No? Well, trust me I can, and I can see that you opened that tab again, gave yourself a brand new name and pretended you didn't make the three previous comments.

Just like those vegetarians who say they used to love the garden burger but now will never go back, you're lying, and it's showing.

kidsleepy's picture

Funny thing about websites, Dannel: They all have "about" sections. Those sections tell you what a web site's purpose it. Ours is located at the bottom of our page, right by the red TV logo in the left hand corner. Have you spotted it yet?

Well, if you can't locate it, I'll give you a clue. look at the name of the website. There's a word "Ad," in the name. Could that be short for advertising? If so, what would that second word "land," be about?

Do you think maybe-- just maybe-- this website has something to do with all things advertising?

Just throwing it out there.

Whoomp there it is's picture

You are close, bitch. This is a clubhouse computer, so right on that count, but not us being the same person. Dan's not even a veg so it's weird that you're pissed at him. But you are a fucking cunt, obsessed with insulting people and just getting attention, negative or otherwise. And congrats on the useless site.

Whoomp there it is's picture

Also you have no idea how to read code because I actually forgot to close this tab and a new one was never opened.

Whoomp there it is's picture

It's hilarious how obsessed with yourself you are, you mentally challenged piece of shit.

Dabitch's picture

See, once again, you're the one who jumps out with the "cunt", "idiot" and "bitch". Did I call you names? Nope. I didn't even call Kaufmann/Dannel/Whoomp a vegetarian. Maybe if you read it out loud, slowly, you'll understand better what is written. And maybe... If you come back, could you be so kind as to explain what the "you have no idea how to "read code" & "close tab" comment is attempting to convey? Because I can't read code, your tab didn't close? Amazing. I'm far more skilled than I give myself credit for. Glad to know I can keep your tabs open by not reading. I shall not read lots today.

kidsleepy's picture

For a site with no value it sure gets a lot of hits. Especially from Burnaby. My question is this: Are you a regular run of the mill Canadian Tire troll, or are you an advertising troll? There's a big difference, you know.

jfc's picture

For a national chain that prides itself in their gourmet burgers, Red Robin sure makes a crappie veggie burger!

kidsleepy's picture

And no doubt it's cooked on a grill where all the meat burgers are being cooked, too. Seriously, why on earth would you go to a chain for veggie food? How low is the standard for vegetables here?

Dabitch's picture

Right? Cabbage eaters tend to go to place where there's better cabbage. Also, they might have thought the combination of the words cabbage and eater was an insult rather than a straight up description, in which case they may have self-hatred issues.

Another thing I find interesting is that our pal above seems to be typing from Canada, where as far as I know, there are no Red Robins. It's a bit like when ads in the UK were pulled because people in the USA found them on the web and thought they were homophobic. In those cases, the brand was global though.

tl;dr - ad hater isn't even geographically in the target market. He-yo!