Applebee’s Neighborhood Grill & Bar found itself in a tough situation last week when a franchisee group’s multiplatform digital ad campaign ran at cross-purposes with corporate branding plans.
The tongue-in-cheek “Life Is Better Shared†campaign, created for Lexingington, Ky.-based franchisee group Thomas & King, drew on Applebee’s corporate’s “Girls’ Night Out†slogan. Internet comments called the campaign everything from “condescending†to “fantastic†for its use of YouTube video pseudo tutorials, a Tumblr page, and references to Twitter and Pinterest. Full post.