Red Lobster
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Flavor Flav’s efforts to save the cheddar bay biscuits are getting traction. Red Lobster has announced a new meal in his name.
As spotted on The Grio, the seafood restaurant chain is making it clear that the Public Enemy member’s efforts did not go unappreciated. This week the Orlando, Florida-based company announced the launch of “Flavor Flav’s Faves.” The meal includes a Maine lobster tail, snow crab legs, garlic shrimp scampi, and bacon mac and cheese, plus a side dish.
The “911 Is A Joke” rapper expressed his enthusiasm about the partnership in a formal statement. “As a long-time Red Lobster fan, I’m fired up to bring a little bit of my own flavor to fans with a meal featuring my seafood favorites,” he said. “You gotta get to Red Lobster and give it a try because this signature meal is hype, boy!”
Red Lobster detailed why the limited-time menu was a no brainer. “When you have someone like Flavor Flav who shows their love for a brand by ordering the entire menu, you know there is a lot more fun to be had,” said Sara Bittorf, chief experience officer at Red Lobster. “Flavor Flav’s passion for Red Lobster is unmatched, and we’re excited to bring our guests a flavor experience unlike any other.”
Along with the launch of Flavor Flav’s Faves, Red Lobster also launched some new menu items including the Creamy Crab Carbonara, the Crab & Lobster Duo and the Snow Crab & Crab-Topped Steak. Earlier this year the chain announced bankruptcy after taking a huge hit on their endless shrimp promotion. Upon hearing the news Flavor Flav ordered every item off the menu in an attempt to save the franchise.
The Flavor Flav Fave’s offering is available during Crabfest.
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Source: Roberto Machado Noa / Getty / Red Lobster
Red Lobster possibly going out of business? Say it ain’t so.
Folks on social media are panicking right now because they might have to find another spot to enjoy cheddar bay biscuits and endless crab legs for graduation day, Mother’s Day or after Easter service.
Spotted on TMZ via Bloomberg, iconic seafood restaurant chain Red Lobster is mulling bankruptcy as the company tries to figure out how to restructure its debt and other expenses, including restaurant leases and rising labor costs, as the celebrity gossip site reports.
Some even point to popular promotions like endless shrimp hurting the restaurant and the chain, which is bleeding cash due to the pandemic.
Per TMZ:
There’s also this tidbit that some are resurfacing amid this news — namely, the fact that Red Lobster’s recent endless shrimp reportedly hurt their bottom line quite badly … only for them to pivot to endless lobster after reporting a $12.5 million operating loss in ’23’s 4th quarter.
Even before the $12 mil hit … Red Lobster was bleeding cash, with reports saying they’d suffered a $19 million loss through the first 9 months of ’23… attributed to the pandemic, among other issues. Some minority owners in the biz have also started to jump ship.
For those who know about running a business and financial issues, filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy does not mean the end for the restaurant that Beyoncé at once had popping cause she sang, “When he fuck me good, I take his ass to Red Lobster.”
Despite knowing that, the reactions to Red Lobster possibly filing for bankruptcy are flowing like butter you pour on your lobster tails, and they are hilarious.
One user hilariously wrote on X, formerly Twitter, “they still got them unlimited crab legs cause if so I’ll go tomorrow.”
“oh lawd somebody save the biscuits,” another person wrote in response to the news of Red Lobster considering chapter 11 bankruptcy.
“How did we let this happen???? Y’all too bougie for Red Lobstas?!?,” another post on X read.
We don’t think Red Lobster is going anywhere, but we are always here for funny reactions. You can see those in the gallery below.
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4. Very important question
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Apparently, when Red Lobster promoted its Ultimate Endless Shrimp deal, the company had severely underestimated how much people love shrimp—and it cost the seafood restaurant giant $11 million in quarterly operating losses.
According to the New York Times, Red Lobster’s “irresistible” all-you-can-eat shrimp promotion was a little too irresistible, so much so that the company was forced to raise the price to $25 from $20 after the popular promotion caused a drop in the restaurant chan’s third-quarter profit—which is generally the opposite of what a popular promotional offer is designed to do.
From the Times:
Thai Union Group, which owns a large stake in the chain, said in a third-quarter earnings call this month that the deal was in part to blame for an $11 million operating loss.
Red Lobster hoped the promotion would bolster traffic at its U.S. locations through fall and winter, when its restaurants tend to be the emptiest.
Ultimate Endless Shrimp had already been a Red Lobster “guest-favorite” staple for over 18 years. But the restaurant took it a step further this summer, offering the previously seasonal deal “all day, every day” instead of just on Mondays.
Obviously, Red Lobster learned nothing from that one episode of The Simpsons.
Ludovic Garnier, the chief financial officer of Thai Union Group, indicated that the corporation was taken completely by surprise by the fact that offering people an unlimited amount of seafood for $20 negatively affected the profits of a restaurant that primarily sells seafood. (*Googles educational credentials needed to become a chief financial advisor*)
“But something which was different from our expectations is the proportion of the people selecting this promotion was much higher compared to expectation,” Garnier told investors earlier this month.
As for the future of the way-too-generous promotion, Garnier indicated that the company hasn’t decided to do away with it completely.
“It’s one of the iconic promotions for Red Lobster, so we want to keep it on the menu,” he said. “But, of course, we need to be much more careful regarding what is the entry point and what is the price point.”
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