Great idea: declare that your competition is not other middlebrow suburban restaurant chains, but local teenagers.
Olive Garden has done that, with a big event on February 7th.
If you happen to be a parent who has trouble finding a babysitter but really appreciates a decent Grilled Chicken Speidini, hurry: sign up your offspring at the local MyGym, pay your deposit, and come join the fun. Here’s your buzzer, it should be about 45 minutes. Have a seat in the bar.
Olive Garden’s Facebook Page (excerpt)
Oh. Sorry, Alaska.
That seems to be the logistical hiccup here, and it seems like something that OG/MyG could eventually resolve. Maybe Olive Garden has to partner with other reassuringly branded babysitting corporations. They’re handling it gamely on their Facebook page, patiently explaining and re-explaining that this is a trial promotion and they are sorry there’s no MyGym in Montana.
In any event, let this serve as a warning to Olive Garden fans without kids-who-require-babysitting: if all goes well, the restaurant will be swollen with nervous-looking couples checking obsessively to see if there’s a text message from MyGym.