Orlando-based Red Lobster
sees a jump in sales thanks to a Beyonce tune.
Red Lobster’s surprise mention in a new Beyonce song is showing the Orlando-based restaurant chain the power of pop music — and the fickle nature of social media.
Red Lobster reports that a mention in the song “Formation,” released during Super Bowl weekend, resulted in a 33 percent increase in Sunday business compared to the previous Super Bowl Sunday.
Some said that Red Lobster should do more to capitalize on the song.
“They should try to continue to capitalize on the publicity from this by tying it into Beyonce’s upcoming tour,” said Matt Heindl, social media director with Zimmerman Advertising in Fort Lauderdale. “They can hold events along the tour for fans and even do promotional menus.”
“Formation” mentioned the casual-dining chain in the third verse. The song mixes racial imagery, luxury fashion and marital jealousy from the reigning queen of pop music.
“When he whoops me good I take his [expletive] to Red Lobster, cause I slay,” Beyonce repeats in the “radio-friendly” version of the song. The original version had another expletive instead of “whoops.”
The song was released Saturday on the streaming-music service run by Beyonce’s husband Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter.
Red Lobster CEO Kim Lopdrup said the name drop was unsolicited and unexpected.
“We certainly never expected to be such a hot topic of conversation,” Lopdrup said. “We’re glad that she’s a fan, and that’s she’s made her fans fans of Red Lobster.”
Red Lobster saw another sales increase Monday night “well into the double digits” as the public digested the new song online and during the NFL’s championship game.
The song mention, even in a controversial release, was enough to put Red Lobster into the top trending categories on Twitter, spokeswoman Erica Ettori said. That was the first time Red Lobster has ever trended on Twitter.
It was Beyonce’s first new single in two years. The song was performed at the Super Bowl on Sunday night and was part of an announcement of a new tour from the pop singer.
But Red Lobster’s response on Twitter had dozens of people criticizing the restaurant chain for a lack of creativity. It tweeted from its account, @redlobster: “Cheddar Bey Biscuits” has a nice ring to it, don’t you think? #Formation @Beyonce”
Many tweets also lambasted Red Lobster for the 10-hour delay from when “Formation” was released to the restaurant’s first response on social media.
“The social media is a bit of a wild, wild west and 10 hours is an eternity,” said Ashley Cisneros, cofounder of Orlando marketing firm Chatter Buzz Media.
Surprisingly, Red Lobster was criticized for a “lame” tweet as opposed to saying something controversial, Cisneros said.
“Controversial or not, when you get called out like that by a major star, you have to respond,” said.
According to Lopdrup, Red Lobster’s social-media team tried to play off the Twitter criticism, later apologizing for taking so long to respond.
“Different people have different perspectives and we probably could have responded a little faster,” Lopdrup said. “But clearly we have gotten into the game. We are pleased with the positive responses.”
Overall, however, it was a big win for Red Lobster, which garnered about 43,000 mentions on Twitter over the weekend.
Red Lobster has continued tweeting over the past four days about the song.