Restaurant advertising could get messy this year. Take, for example, Domino’s TV ad featuring their chief executive burning a cease and desist letter from rival Subway. In fact, destroying cease and desist letters may be the real trend. Captain D’s just launched a new website (irefusetoceaseanddesist.com) in response to Red Lobster’s cease and desist letter. Their new site shows a video of a man tearing up said letter.
Why all the hostility? It’s a cramped market, and according to some, it’s shrinking: “Goldman Sachs analyst Steven Kron recently estimated that 12,000, or up to 8% of all casual-dining locations, are needed to close to balance supply and demand.” Thus, niceties are out; food fights are in.
Sounds like bad news, but it could actually be good for independents and chains with creativity on their side. If, as one of my favorite bloggers Peter Romeo suggests, casual restaurant chains are suffering from a bad case of Sameness, then restaurants with unique offerings could become a bright spot in 2009. So differentiate yourself from the competition…and take off the kid gloves in your advertising!
If you’d like to read more about these recent “food fights” (looking for inspiration?), check out Romeo’s post on this topic over at his personal blog.
