Olive Garden pulls Letterman ads

Source: Yahoo News

Following a week of back and forth between CBS late night comic David Letterman and Sarah Palin over a crude joke he told about the Alaska Republican governor’s daughter, the Olive Garden restaurant says it is cancelling (sic) all of its scheduled ads on Letterman’s “Late Show” for the rest of the year.

In an email 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.




Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/politico/20090618/pl_politico/23889_1

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It seems that the OG is responding to the reich-wing whack jobs. We actually like that restaurant, but will no longer go there unless they reverse this decision.

in both food and pricing.

with the food they serve

But, I don't go there anyway.

Err...better make that all you can stand. :puke:

David Lettermen should do what Rosie O'Donnell did years ago. ...Back when Rosie had her own show, Scope placed and ad naming Rosie something like the 'least kissable" person. Rosie then had every guest, -every celebrity come on her show and say they hated Scope and used Listerine.

...Still to this day, I never could bring myself to buy Scope.

lol

(the south) rednecks think OG is fine dining.

Everyday eating out is the Dew Drop Inn.

I've always thought of it as an Italian version of a "Denny's".

As an Italian American, I wouldn't think of setting foot in that place.

OG is not Italian food. Not even close.

Advertisers are actually responding to this false outrage? Unbelievable. I wonder what percentage of the country gives a damn, or is even aware of, this whole Letterman "controversy". I guess I won't be eating at Olive Garden anytime soon.

not like I like fast food anyways. The stuff is poison to the human body.

Darden Restaurants, Inc.
Darden Restaurants Inc., headquartered in Orlando, Fla., is the world's largest casual dining company with almost $6.7 billion in annual sales and approximately 170,000 employees. The company owns and operates more than 1,700 restaurants including Red Lobster, Olive Garden, LongHorn Steakhouse, The Capital Grille, Bahama Breeze and Seasons 52.

Darden Restaurants, Inc. (Darden) is a casual dining restaurant company. The Company owns and operates the Red Lobster, Olive Garden, Bahama Breeze, Smokey Bones Barbeque & Grill, and Seasons 52 restaurant concepts located in the United States and Canada. During the fiscal year ended May 27, 2007 (fiscal 2007), Darden operated 1,397 restaurants in the United States and Canada. In the United States, it operated 1,362 restaurants in 49 states (the exception being Alaska), including 651 Red Lobster, 608 Olive Garden, 23 Bahama Breeze, 73 Smokey Bones Barbeque & Grill and seven Seasons 52 restaurants. In Canada, it operated 35 restaurants, including 29 Red Lobster and six Olive Garden restaurants.

Darden Restaurants
Organization Contributions Detail
Contribution(s) found: 49
Total: $151,708

Report
Image Recipient Profile Amount
Congressional Black Caucus PAC PAC Profile $10,000
Gordon H. Smith (R-Ore) Politician Profile $10,000
National Republican Congressional Cmte Party Committee Profile $10,000
Mel Martinez (R-Fla) Politician Profile $8,000
Norm Coleman (R-Minn) Politician Profile $6,500
Bill Nelson (D-Fla) Politician Profile $5,000
Elizabeth Dole (R-NC) Politician Profile $5,000
John Boehner (R-Ohio) Politician Profile $5,000
John Cornyn (R-Texas) Politician Profile $5,000
Steny H. Hoyer (D-Md) Politician Profile $5,000
Tom Feeney (R-Fla) Politician Profile $5,000
Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla) Politician Profile $4,999
James E. Clyburn (D-SC) Politician Profile $4,500
John E. Sununu (R-NH) Politician Profile $4,000
Pat Roberts (R-Kan) Politician Profile $4,000
Ric Keller (R-Fla) Politician Profile $4,000
Adam H. Putnam (R-Fla) Politician Profile $3,000
Mitch McConnell (R-Ky) Politician Profile $3,000
Allen Boyd (D-Fla) Politician Profile $2,709
Charles B. Rangel (D-NY) Politician Profile $2,500
Connie Mack (R-Fla) Politician Profile $2,500
Henry Brown (R-SC) Politician Profile $2,500
Henry Cuellar (D-Texas) Politician Profile $2,500
Mark Warner (D-Va) Politician Profile $2,500
Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga) Politician Profile $2,500
Howard P. "Buck" McKeon (R-Calif) Politician Profile $2,000
Jack Kingston (R-Ga) Politician Profile $2,000
Robert F. Bennett (R-Utah) Politician Profile $2,000
Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga) Politician Profile $2,000
Adam Smith (D-Wash) Politician Profile $1,000
Cliff Stearns (R-Fla) Politician Profile $1,000
Corrine Brown (D-Fla) Politician Profile $1,000
Edward R. Tinsley (R-NM) Politician Profile $1,000
Eric Cantor (R-Va) Politician Profile $1,000
Eric Cantor (R-Va) Politician Profile $1,000
Jason Altmire (D-Pa) Politician Profile $1,000
Jim Matheson (D-Utah) Politician Profile $1,000
John E. Sununu (R-NH) Politician Profile $1,000
Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn) Politician Profile $1,000
Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) Politician Profile $1,000
Michael David Collins (D-Colo) Politician Profile $1,000
Mike Ross (D-Ark) Politician Profile $1,000
Norm Coleman (R-Minn) Politician Profile $1,000
Patrick J. Tiberi (R-Ohio) Politician Profile $1,000
Patrick J. Tiberi (R-Ohio) Politician Profile $1,000
Pete Sessions (R-Texas) Politician Profile $1,000
Ric Keller (R-Fla) Politician Profile $1,000
Richard Burr (R-NC) Politician Profile $1,000
Susan Collins (R-Maine) Politician Profile $1,000

That's a pretty big giveaway about their agenda.

Thanks for spreading the word about these champions of the mediocre, Mrs. Overall.

This entire thing is just so over-the-top, clownfaced, ridiculous (as is Sarah Palin).

PLEASE crosspost the OP in the Lounge.

For now, I'll just repeat what I did for LBN.

signed, technology-challenged oldster

Mommy, I'm scared... :scared:

Don't worry, none of my Scottish appendages will EVER set foot in that place.

Never will.

what to do, right?

https://www.olivegarden.com/company/contact_us/Default.asp?

So you responded to Palin's phony outrage? Well, I don't do Olive Garden, but I've certainly been to the Red Lobster near my Mom's. We won't do that again.

I never bothered to find out which party your parent company supports. Now I know. My money will not be used by you to falsify facts and steal elections.

Thanks for coming out.

Ass holes.

What absolute GARBAGE they serve. They serve lots of it, though!!! What swill!

Let them know how you feel! Give them a hearty FUCK YOU!

Here's the link: https://www.olivegarden.com/company/contact_us/Default.asp?

They ask for a shitload of personal information--if you don't want to give it to them, use a MAILINATOR email address (anything from FUCKYOU@mailinator.com to PRAISEJESUS@mailinator.com will work--ie not bounce) and this address--might as well piss them off!

LATE SHOW WITH
DAVID LETTERMAN
The Ed Sullivan Theater
1697 Broadway
New York, NY 10019

I told them this:

I found out that you pulled your ads from the Letterman show because of that righwing, homophobic, anti-woman's rights nutjob Palin's continued whining. Stupid move on your part.

Why don't you grow up and put your business model before your pandering to kooks? Guess what--you've lost a customer. I'm off to Bertucci's.

Yes, I lied--I can't stand the shit they call food, anyway.

But why not make this a fun excercise? Get the Governor of Alaska's address, and send a complaint using that address! Or get Limbaugh's address, and use that on their stupid form?

I am offended by people who demand excessive amounts of "privacy material" in order to process a simple observational gripe. If you want a response, or your money back, that's one thing, but if you just want to say that the waiter you had named Fred in the Baltimore location was especially nice, or the breadsticks were stale in Boise, why should you have to give them everything save a fingerprint and a credit card number? Fuck 'em--I say spoof away.

Fuck you you fucking fucks.

Fuck you.

Bennyboy.



>>>Wahddayathink?<<<<

Since Olive Garden has made the decision to pull adds from David Letterman's show, I will no longer be a customer or Olive Garden. His remarks where very similar, and in some cases more mild, than jokes told on the Tonight Show, Conan and Saturday Night Live. The Palins had no issue with Any of these shows, only David Letterman. Their outrage rings false and hollow. If you are going to support this manufactured controversy I cannot support your company.

I like my local Italian or Carino's better anyway.

My family and I have enjoyed both Olive Garden and Red Lobster for years. I take the whole big bunch of us to one or the other every Sunday after church. Your unfortunate decision to support Sarah Palin and her political exploitation of her own children has assured that that we will never darken the doorsteps of one of your restaurants again. As a Christian family we just can't contibute to your approval of Palin's coarsening of our culture.

They're crying that they didn't do it, they didn't mean it!

This will, hands down, be the easiest boycot in which I have ever participated. I do think OG is better than Red Lobster (their other shit hole) but I won't be going to either of them.

Pulling the ads after Letterman has had an apology accepted by Palin is just too much. No more Olive Garden for me.

Red Lobster

The Capital Grille

LongHorn Steakhouse

Bahama Breeze

Rocky River Grill House

Seasons 52

Don't think I'll mind if they all self destruct.

All those Olive Garden and Red Lobster ads the past 15 years haven't made me want to visit them any more than the handful of times I have gone there.

When Conan took over the Tonight Show, I began watching Dave a little more.


So.... Letterman's won in my household.

support your local establishments.

2 can play at this game

while letterman's joke was low, he has never been that much of a consistent class act (tho he is sometimes)

but he's a comedian and Palin's hypocrisy was the joke

that's what he does best

but Olive Garden makes itself known as right wingers so

people now know that eating there supports the right wing

The key is to fry the chicken in olive oil.

maybe it's not half of Americans-but 19% are clueless fucks. And of course, all of corporate America.

Palin's daughter had underage unmarried sex and got herself knocked up. (he didn't mean the 14 year old but damn I bet you dollars to donuts she'll be knocked up or arrested for drugs soon-from what I've seen of that family)

And then she parades her around as a MODEL of obstinacy and morals. Those are her values not mine. Teenagers can have all the sex they want as far as I'm concerned. And goddamn it to Job- we can joke about it all we want.

Doesn't she have some wolves to shoot for humanitarian purposes or something? Or oil fields to rape? GOD what good people they are. NO it's Letterman telling a joke that's ruining lives.

Why can't the Palins of the world don't have the good sense to slink away in shame?

Instead they think it's a sin and then parade it our face and WE can't talk about it or they are offened.

And for God sakes what a pissy ants p.c. hysterical country. Aren't there people dying in foreign countries or something? Where's Olive Garden on that? I'm sure they think waterboarding is fine. I'm sure they love advertising the shit out of Fox news. When your waterboared- your not family though.

No loss, as I don't go there anyway. That silly woman in Alaska sure knows how to create havoc wherever she goes!

I sent Darden Concepts, the parent company of Olive garden, a message at their corporate web site feedback page: https://www.olivegarden.com/company/contact_us/Default.asp?

I wrote:

''Your decision to involve yourself and your company into partisan poltics has resulted in my decision to involve myself and my family into your restraunt business. Until the Olive Garden, and other Darden Concepts, Inc., entities retract their position as concerns a boycott of the David Letterman show, my family will maintain a boycott of the Olive Garden.''

So it was shit vs shit for them. They could either suffer the crazy wrath of the fundy Palin supporters, or now they've pissed of a bunch of irate letterman fans.

The fact is that Letterman's "joke" writers have to be the laziest people on the earth. I mean, come on! He's still telling Monica "jokes" after, what? Sixteen years? I think the real story here is that it's taken this long to bring up the fact that, in general, Letterman's monologues lost their amusement value a long, long time ago. There was nothing unique about this unfunny joke. It's just one of many that seem to be the staple of his show.

and let them know they have associated themselves with that bunch, and as a result, I can no longer frequent their establishment.

liberalmuse!

I make it a practice to avoid Olive Garden and Red Lobster. I think they also own Cracker Barrel.

nothing beats the neighborhood authentic Italian restaurant!

You would think they would recognize that half their clientel might be democrat..

Can they afford to lose half of their clientel...

This is not about Letterman, its about Palin using her children to further her political
efforts in a really public and shameless manner.

Please make sure every democrat blog understands and boycotts Red Lobster and Olive Garden.

He made a joke that FIAT, and Italian company, was going to hire American workers for Chrysler... because they think Olive Garden seems to be working out well.

Or that may have been Conan or Jimmy Fallon... not sure.

:rofl:

Damn. Wife loves their eggplant parmagenian and I'm a huge fan of their grilled shrimp caprese.

I went to John Ziegler's firedavidletterman.com web site and got the contact address for Olive Garden. I sent them the following:

I understand you have announced that you will not advertise on David Letterman for the rest of the year.

As a direct result of your decision, I am determined not to patronize Olive Garden until you advertise again on the Letterman show.

Letterman has admitted his joke was in bad taste. He has apologized, and Palin has accepted his apology. If you are going to cast your lot with the right-wing hate machine, you must accept that you are consigning yourself to the same irrelevance into which they are rapidly sinking.

I plan to notify all the other advertisers listed on the above page that I have "fired Olive Garden" and will similarly refuse to patronize anyone else who participates in this ridiculous campaign.

National chain restaurants should be avoided anyway. I've worked with guys who worked these chains and I've heard some stories.

1) The quality goes down the more the menu is standardized. Olive Gardden makes most of it's stuff in a factory. It is shipped out, mostly frozen, to it's franchises. The prep cooks make the pasta and decant the sauces. They keep a relatively skilled line cook on to do steaks to order, etc. In one of my incarnations as chef I tried to teach kids who'd come out of this background how to actually cook. They could not do simple tasks such as separate eggs, they couldn't read a recipe, they always asked 'where's the box/can/package?'.

2) They treat their employees badly and tolerate sexist and homophobic horseplay that most quality (and privately-owned mom-n-pop) places will not.


3) It's just not REAL food. Real food is made by real people lovingly over the stove it's served from. It is a cook's form of creativity and nothing satifies more than giving someone the best meal they've ever had. Go to a restaurant where cooking is 'just a job', well you will get no more than that. In addition, think of what you're ingesting at OG, Denny's, etc. Much of that food is loaded with transfats, preservatives and stabilizers to allow it to travel from factories. That hollandaise? From a package and hot water. Those biscuits? Frozen, or worse bagged, from somewhere out-of-state boasting a scary ingredients list a mile long. Mine have the basics and are served straight from the oven. Almost everything in a Denny's is package + water, frozen (like soups) and thawed. Seen it meself.

Support your local mom-n-pops, please. Chain restaurants hurt restaurant employees and they hurt you too.

Mara Frazier
Manager, Media Relations
(407) 245-5161
mfrazier@olivegarden.com


Guest (customer) relations would be here: olivegarden@olivegarden.com

but I think the Manager of Media Relations would be the one to most pay attention.

"Pull your Letterman Ads? Fine. I pull my business from you. You want to pick sides in the culture war, fine. You've picked the side of murdering right-wing American Nazis. I get your message loud and clear.

What a HUGE mistake. I'll never eat OG again. EVER.

Maybe Sarah Palin can do an ad for you! You can run it on Glenn Beck! The Minutemen and Torture-Lovers will surely make up the lost business!

Goodbye, Olive Garden. I've been a loyal customer for twenty years.

Idiots."

Uh, I've actually eaten at Olive Garden only once in the last twenty years. Food sucked. Like Italian McDonalds.

I have noted that it is the intention of Olive Garden & it's parent corporation to pull it's advertising from the David Letterman Show. The reason given being the jokes about Gov Sarah Palin & her family. I applaud your right to make such a decision, as I hope you applaud mine to no longer patronize your chain based upon your choice.

and Carrabbas are both superior to OG.

Since this will force me to boycott OG, where will I go to get my week's worth of sodium...IN ONE MEAL!!

Bwahahahahahaha!

Or it was the DU masses (yes I am kidding, for the no-humor crowd) that fought the power and pushed them back!!!

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x5875799

In regards to your pulling ads from the David Letterman show over a Joke he made about Governor Palin.

I don't patronize companies that inject themselves into partisan political feuds. I will also encourage anyone I come into contact with to join me and do the same (both on the internet and in the real world).


Have a great day!

I've written to the Darden Corp expressing that I will not be dining at any of their restaurants in the future due to this action.

As conservatives only seem to respond to actions that hurt their pocketbook, would it be advisable to request the DU set up a special link on the front page for regular letter writing campaigns to counter reactionary pressures on businesses? How would I go about requesting this?

If every other person that reads DU were to take one minute to email businesses that try this type of thing it might make a big difference.

Letterman needs to replace them with other advertisers and NEVER EVER allow them to regain the coveted ad spot. When they come crawling back. Just tell them. You had the spot and then you gave it up. You threw it away. You blew it big times. No we will not give it back to you at any price. Well okay maybe at super bowl prices. But otherwise we're gonna give other businesses a chance at the spot. They're forgetting who made who. Olive Garden didn't make David Letterman a success. They were banking on David Letterman making Olive Garden a success.

That was very risky move for a restaurant to make in this economy. I think they will ultimately regret it. They'll find out the hard way the Republicans destroy everything they come into contact with.

The best thing about Olive Garden is, & I'm not kidding, they have Coke products and offer free refills....That's it...

Their salad is no big deal, breaksticks aren't anything special, & their pasta is average...The desserts are cafeteria quality to....They are, on a good day, a very average restaurant....

Most ma & pop Italian establishments (in any city) are FAR better than Palin Garden, whoops, I meant Olive Garden....

Let's be honest, folks. If Letterman had made the exact same joke about one of Obama's daughters, you all would be trashing him and saying you'd never watch him again and writing emails and letters demanding his removal from the show.

Palin is just a vindictive bitch with a massive instinct for revenge over the most trifle of matters. Look how she haunted her ex-brother-in-law and the Chief of Police. Actually had them fired. But it's okay for her to incite violence at her rallies to the point the Obama's lives were being threatened. She loved every minute of it. Thankfully the extremists, who make up her following, are a handful compared to the rational. They are just dangerous big mouths, which is why you have to stop watching FAUX tv and start watching your back.

unlikely any of his girls would get "knocked" up! And the point isn't about the joke really, it is the hypocrisy that Palin brings to a new level. Heck the women couldn't even get her own daughter to practice absinece and advices it for all other teenagers?
She dragges her pregnant teen onstage into the public arena and is shocked a late night comic notices it? BTW, wherte was she before when the the jokes were made about Bristol/ this pretending to defend Willow, who noone thought the "joke was about is just another example of her willing to pimp her children for her own ambition!

you like Olive Garden Pizza?

which caused many threats on the Obama's lives. She is a liar and a hypocrite. I'll bet she has the 14 year old on bcp's just in case she meets her "Levi" and they want to sleep together in her bedroom at home. Looks like I won't be eating at the Olive Garden AT LEAST for the rest of the year.

Please see link: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x3929285

"Come in OMC, we dont need the grandma roughed up, I repeat Operation Slap Granny is No Go!"

Progressives have pocketbooks, too.

Strike them off my list!

First rule of marketing, get your message out to the most people for the least money. Guess who has the best late night ratings (clue: it ain't Conan).

His #'s were going flat at his time slot

their food is as close as you can get to fast food. I'm surprised they don't have a drive-through.

I definitely won't now, to hell with the gift cards.

... the Olive Garden, but I ate there once over ten years ago and that was enough.

Can't say i won't go back over this, I won't go back because I don't eat slop.

I think this may actually be a win-win for Olive Garden and Letterman, since all this free publicity might draw in more viewers for Letterman's show, and maybe attract some new customers to Olive Garden just because of all the hubbub. And Olive Garden can save some advertising bucks in the process.

worst salad ever.

It's important that you let them know that their behavior is unacceptable. As soon as I found out, I submitted a comment to their website.

their ads as well...??