Olive Garden pulls Letterman ads

Politico ^ | 06/18/09 | ANDY BARR

[BCrago66]

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 all of its scheduled ads on Letterman’s “Late Show” for the rest of the year.

[BCrago66]

Excellent. To my knowledge, this is the first TV sponsor to pull its ads from the Letterman show (Embassy Suites pulled its web ads from CBS.com, which is much smaller money.) And this is a big one, too.

[ExTexasRedhead]

Keep the heat on.

[DJ Republica]

So let’s see:

Embassy Suites removes it’s ads from CBS’s website.
Hellman’s/BestFoods does the same.
Olive Garden now removes all ads from the Letterman show timeslot.

Congrats everyone! Keep the pressure on people. :D

[Bubba Ho-Tep]

On the other hand, between the controversy and people switching from Conan, Letterman’s ratings are actually going up. They’re not going to have a problem replacing that ad revenue and if the trend continues, being able to charge more for ad time.

[domenad]

Wow, pulled AFTER the apology. I’m stunned, really stunned. I thougth that this guy pissed a lot of people off, but it looks like I seriously underestimated the impact of such a comment.

[irishjuggler]

First the Never-Ending Pasta Bowl, now this. I love Olive Garden!

[F15Eagle]

Excellent.

[rwfromkansas]

Olive Garden’s breadsticks and salad are great. will have to eat there.

[new cruelty]

LOL.

Haven’t been there in a while. We usually go to Macaroni Grill. It’s a loud place and the kids can draw on the tables. Still, we may have to go to Olive Garden soon.

[YankeeReb]

Dave reminds me of an old bitter Alfred E Newman. I hope all his sponsors drop him. If he was making a “joke” about Zer0’s kids not only would he be canned but the messiah would sack the head of CBS on top of it.

[Safrguns]

I just had an immediate and overwhelming craving for the best Italian food one can find in the United States.

[Tax Government]

Ok. The next family meal out is at Olive Garden.

[Drango]

SWEEEEEET

[rwfromkansas]

conan’s actually funny...I was worried about it since I didn’t used to like him.

[BCrago66]

Olive Garden will now experience an uptick of customers, even in a recession. There’s a lot more of us than there are of them.

[AngelesCrestHighway]

Good for them!....Bucktooth Deadletter needs to be turned out to pasture.....

[DogBarkTree]

I got a very contrite email from Capital One after I closed the account.

[WOBBLY BOB]

Their ‘Tour of Italy’ just got even more delicious.

[rom]

I just had an immediate and overwhelming craving for the best Italian food one can find in the United States.

I thought this article was about Olive Garden?

[Lawdoc]

Just book a three day stay at Embassy Suites because of what they did re: Letterman. Now it looks like we will be eating at Olive Gardens during our trip!

[Raycpa]

They’re not going to have a problem replacing that ad revenue and if the trend continues,

It is harder to get a new customer than to retain and old one. If existing ones are bailing, then potential new ones are not even listening.

[MaestroLC]

Letterman NEVER apologized for calling Palin a "slutty flight attendant." He also only apologized AFTER pressure came, and this was his second attempt (and still lame). I give him no credit. He's a bully and a jerk. He needs to pay a huge price. Watch him scream "freedom of speech" soon.

Olive Garden just earned a customer for an evening dine-out.

[napscoordinator]

I love this resturant. Although I have not been there since my surprise 30th birthday party....I am 40 now if that gives you any idea how long it has been. lol.

[KoRn]

We may have to make a run to the Olive Garden this weekend.

[Ann Archy]

Cant wait to go to Olive Garden!

[BCrago66]

Letterman was funny in the 80’s. That was before he became an obsequious suck-up to the Hollywood Left.

[napscoordinator]

It always happens this way. People LOVE controversy. Letterman probably did this on purpose. This was the biggest gift conservatives could have given him. He knows that conservatives don’t watch the show anyway...what he did was wake up those independents who probably weren’t too interested in his show and now they are watching. The only problem with this scenario...it won’t last more than a year. His ratings will be great until Summer 2010 and then return to the original ratings.

[HIDEK6]

“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.

Glad Olive Garden dumped Letterman, but Ms. Bruen's non-apology sounds a lot like what Letterman tried first.

She should have apologized for having the bad judgment to get involved with Letterman in the first place.

[Gator113]

Good news.

I will take my wife to an Olive Garden this weekend.

“We are coming, we are coming for you.......”

[navymom1]

Fantastic News!! I love the Olive Garden!

[BCrago66]

If you want good conduct, reward it & quit complaining. Take your family to Olive garden.

[dforest]

*snicker* *snort*

[y6162]

“Wow, pulled AFTER the apology. I’m stunned”

Dave insulted the customers of Olive Garden. People know that when Letterman calls the Palins trailer trash, he’s talking about them as well.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

We may yet take Lettermolester’s scalp...

[guido911]

Well done Olive Garden AND Freepers for that matter. Tulsa Olive Garden at 71st & Memorial, here I come.

[alrea]

Making reservations for a party of 20 at Olive Garden right now.

[nomoremods]

This is great news. For those of you so inclined, please send thank you emails or calls to the companies who end up doing the right thing. Thank Embassy Suites, Hellman’s and Olive Garden to let them know you appreciate their decision. Thanks!

[AngryJawa]

$6.99 lunch special for the all-you-can-eat soup, salad, and breadsticks is a really good deal. Zuppa Toscana for the win!

Guess where I'm going to lunch tomorrow.

[stevio]

Thanks OG!

[Lesforlife]

Worse than “rude and crude”

http://lesforlife.blogspot.com/2009/06/why-lettermans-joke-cant-stand.html

THANK YOU OLIVE GARDEN!!!!

[gramho12]

I haven’t been to Olive Garden for a while - I think I’ll be going and make sure they know the reason why.

[BCrago66]

I guess we all could go to an Embassy Suites hotel, and then call Olive Garden to get Italian Food delivered to the room, with extra Hellman’s mayo.

But that would kind of strange.

[Arizona Carolyn]

Among the people who did attend the rally on Tuesday was a woman with a sign shaming Olive Garden for not standing up for women... she got face time on the news... that is what it takes.

[shadeaud]

Maybe Olive Garden’s motto is really true. When you’re here your family

[TribalPrincess2U]

Alright! And I did my part with Olive Garden and Hellmann’s.

[Two Kids' Dad]

Cool! I think I’ll celebrate by eating at Olive Garden soon. Chicken and gnocchi soup, breadsticks, etc.

YUM!

[Cheetahcat]

Good!! I like Olive Garden and looks like I can visit them for a meal now.

[TribalPrincess2U]

Contrite how exactly? I have Cap one.

[rightly_dividing]

Remember also that you can purchase bottles of their great salad dressing to take with you. I think maybe I shall take the wife out there tonight. Thanks for the heads-up, FReepers

[MissDairyGoodnessVT]

I am curious to see how many people are going to call corporate Olive Branch and thank them for pulling out of Letterman and also telling them that they will be patronizing the restaurant even more...