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January 24, 2024
Should Other Restaurants Follow Applebee’s Date Night Pass Subscription?
Applebee’s, the casual dining retailer chain, has just unveiled a new deal that may pique the interest of anyone looking to keep romance alive without breaking the bank. Starting on Monday, Applebee’s started offering a date night pass subscription for $200. These passes, valid for roughly a year’s worth of weekly date nights, are sure to disrupt the industry in one way or another.
The Nitty-Gritty of the Applebee’s Date Night Pass
The date night pass, valid from Feb. 1, 2024, through Jan. 31, 2025, covers 52 instances of dining at the restaurant. The catch? Each pass covers only up to $30 of food and non-alcoholic beverages per use. Essentially, this means you and your significant other could enjoy two servings of all-you-can-eat boneless wings, riblets, and shrimp. Unfortunately, if you’re planning to pair these dishes with Applebee’s famous margaritas, you’ll have to shell out some extra cash.
Parsing the Value Proposition
Applebee’s might be on to something with the notion that date night spenders are an untapped niche market. Whether for a first date or a night out with your spouse, the cost of dating has shot up by 40% in the past decade, according to a 2023 survey by Match, a company that owns dating apps like Tinder, Hinge, and Plenty of Fish. Amidst this rise, many singles are opting for budget-friendly first date options, like a stroll in the park or a cup of coffee, forsaking pricier dinner dates.
In this regard, Applebee’s seems to have struck the right balance by emphasizing its image as an affordable dining destination. The reintroduction of its all-you-can-eat boneless wings, riblets, and double crunch shrimp at the beginning of the year, along with the short-lived $1 margarita promotion in 2023, is a testament to this strategy.
Not All Sunshine and Riblets
Unfortunately, not all Applebee’s locations are participating in this deal. Sixteen locations are exempt from accepting the pass, including multiple restaurants in New Jersey, New York, Maryland, Florida, Ohio, South Dakota, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Texas. Those particular chains have not yet made it clear why they refused to offer the date night package, but it would be interesting to know their reasons.
Furthermore, the pass is applicable only for in-person dining and online orders placed directly through Applebee’s website and cannot be used for orders through third-party platforms like DoorDash and Postmates.
Applebee’s Date Night Troubles
With the release of this special promotion, there have already been customer complaints and an outcry of public dissatisfaction. After the date night passes were made available online, they sold out in just one minute.
https://twitter.com/Honestly_Andrew/status/1749478393307873540?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1749478393307873540%7Ctwgr%5Eafccf7d60f4c3d969127c414e903a1d6708b00ae%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.usatoday.com%2Fstory%2Fmoney%2Ffood%2F2024%2F01%2F22%2Fapplebees-date-night-pass-sold-out%2F72317910007%2F
The exact number of passes released by the restaurant remains undisclosed, although it admitted that the demand greatly surpassed its projections. Patrons had the opportunity to purchase these passes exclusively on the company’s website, as in-person sales at the restaurant’s premises were not facilitated.
According to USA Today, “Many expressed their frustrations on social media and blamed Applebees’ website.”
Bobby McWho, a user on X, expressed his vexation about continuously refreshing Applebee’s page for the date night pass only to find no option for purchase. His sarcastic query hinted at the limited availability of the passes. A separate user, AsheIsMash, entered the conversation, revealing that their annoyance wasn’t just about the limited number of passes sold. They had even gone to the extent of emailing Applebee’s beforehand for the correct purchase link, only to receive an incorrect one. This user deemed the whole process disorganized and felt that Applebee’s hadn’t fully considered customer sentiment when planning the date night pass sale, as per their post on X.
On Applebee’s Reddit page, a user started a post that’s gaining traction about how the date night pass is a fake scam, saying, “From what I can tell no one even got one. It likely was 10 or less passes available and given to influencers, bots and insiders.” They are calling others to boycott the restaurant or review bomb it. However, on another Reddit post, three commenters said they were able to get a pass.
Reaping the Rewards or Facing the Fallout
Ultimately, the pass carries a potential value exceeding $1,500, signifying a lucrative deal. By using the subscription every week for a year, pass holders stand to save around $1,360 annually, truly maximizing their return on this deal.
The Applebee’s date night pass offers an intriguing approach to dining out, blending the concepts of subscription services and casual dining. Only time will tell if the chain will continue to offer the service in future years — and if so, if it will increase the number of available passes — as well as whether other restaurants will pick up the model or if it will be relegated to the long list of failed fast-food promotional gambits.
Discussion Questions
Considering the concept of the “Date Night Pass” as a novel merging of subscription services and the retail food industry, how might this affect the future of casual dining, especially in terms of disrupting the pricing and service models?
Considering the unexpected demand for the date night pass, how can better forecasting and communication strategies manage customer expectations in future promotions?
In light of certain Applebee’s locations refusing to participate in the scheme without clarifying their reasons, what could be the potential financial and operational implications of this exclusion in the broader franchise community, and could this resistance hinder or reshape such daring promotional campaigns in the future?
Poll
Loading …BrainTrust
Lucille DeHart
Principal, MKT Marketing Services/Columbus Consulting
Lisa Goller
B2B Content Strategist
Brian Numainville
Principal, The Feedback Group
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This is more of a marketing play than a serious tool, which is precisely why Applebee’s limited the number of passes available. Can you imagine the disaster that would ensue if this was offered on a widespread basis? Sure Applebee’s may make some money and margin additional drink sales, but they’d lose a heck of a lot of money if even a fraction of people used the passes too regularly. As such, I don’t think this has any real implications for the wider foodservice industry. That said, other subscription passes such as Panera’s Unlimited Sip Club benefits are becoming more widespread – mainly because they help drive sales in other categories and come with a regular charge attached.
I agree with Neil (as usual 🙂 ). This is a marketing campaign, and as such I hope it continues to work for Applebees.
“Yeah, we fancy like Applebee’s on a date night” those are – of course! – the lyrics to that highly (if annoyingly) popular song by Walkers Hayes https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQ-XurHfOGM ; which makes my wonder if they aren’t trying to cash in on a(an already) popular habit. And if so, I wonder whether we should be scanning the Billboard charts for retail trends. Hmm…. Too bad the execution on this sounds like it was….something less than brilliant.
I really like this idea in theory, and I think it’s important that there’s a limited number of passes. That said, I think they could’ve done a bit better with the calculations- giving out more passes and slightly upping the amount per date night. I could definitely see more QSR’s adopting something similar.
Great idea. Awful execution. It sounds as if more customers will be p*ssed-off rather than delighted.
Applebee’s scarce Date Night Pass boosted both viral awareness and dissatisfaction for those who didn’t snag one. This campaign proves couples seek affordable options beyond home cooking. More casual dining players may imitate this move and increase supply to satisfy consumers’ unmet needs.
Applebee’s is on the viral list of where you shouldn’t take someone on a date. I think this promotion by Applebee’s might be tongue in cheek. And if that’s the case it’s really kind of brilliant.
Yes, exactly: a lot of this is clever tongue in cheek marketing. And it has worked because it’s been widely covered in the media and here we all are discussing it! It’s not a serious commercial move.
I like the idea of a subscription element to build loyalty and revenue. I’d assume the value/profit included an assumption of missed weeks. Olive Garden did something similar for the holidays with a month long all you can eat pass but the menu was restricted. I think that would be a better approach for other brands to model against.
Loony idea. Selling $1500 worth of product for $200, and then capping it in recognition of the realities of the math. Why not sell $500 for $200 and actually make it real for a broader audience. That’s still a great deal, and would have been embraced by a number of people. This sounds like it came from the same school of thought as…”I know! Let’s offer FREE shipping and FREE returns! We’ll lose TONS of money, but just think of all the new customers we’ll get. And we’ll lose money on all of them!” I’m all for investing in customer acquisition, but some ideas are just flat out ill conceived.
The Applebee’s date night promotion is a clever idea to increase awareness, but the unrealistic pricing ($30 in food and beverage for approximately $4 a week) is not a sustainable model. I suspect they had just a small number of these available and the real benefit was the volume of free press it garnered. Date night concepts are a smart marketing strategy and it has been successful in the past for example combining a dinner with movie tickets from the local theatre.
Applebee’s was smart to appeal to the dating customer base because it seems to be an area where restaurants haven’t focused. Although, offering a service only to a small few didn’t seem to have moved the needle.
There are some other scenarios that Applebee’s should explore. One is the concept of a streak. How many weeks in a row can a couples visit an Applebees? Streaks were popular in social media and they could exploit that in a restaurant setting where the consistent couples get recognition or a free app by continuing the streak. Another one is to identify and market particular days in the week as date nights and have a special for couples that come in on Wednesdays or Thursdays. Making it fun, value priced as well as interesting week over week would be key to making these programs work.
If they want to be a date destination there are many options for them to consider because there aren’t many restaurants making this a key part of their ongoing marketing efforts.
MoviePass was a good date night idea too until it went out of business (talking about the original, not the recently rebooted version). As a marketing promotion, this is an interesting play but unfortunately, that’s all this really appears to be with the limited distribution. Otherwise, it might turn out more like MoviePass.
I think Walker Hayes’ song, “Fancy Like,” might have inspired “date night” at Applebee’s! Unfortunately, if the daters are planning to pair the meals with Applebee’s margaritas, they will need to part with more money. Oh well, according to Walker, an Applebee’s dates “don’t need no champagne poppin’ entertainment.” Thank goodness for the margaritas.
Apparently, it’s more than just a song lyric – a lot of people really do want Applebee’s to be their date night destination.
Applebee’s sold out of its Date Night Pass within minutes after the opportunity went live this week. The card’s unavailability has ignited some anger across social media, with conversations even veering into “boycott Applebee’s” territory.
Expect restaurant consumers to get much more value conscious in 2024, and yes there will be other restaurants imitators. But I don’t anticipate fast food or on the other side of the spectrum, five star restaurants.
There is nothing new about novelty promotional items depleting quickly, but the quick pace of this one may indicate consumers’ increasing demand for value. For context, the $200 Date Night Pass offers cardholders 52 date nights – one per week – with up to $30 in food and non-alcoholic beverages, equating to over $1,500.
Since the card was offered by Applebee’s, a casual dining chain that has consistently embraced its value position with offerings such as the Dollarita and all-you-can-eat boneless wings, riblets, and shrimp, the high demand may have been compounded.
Promoting these types of events reliably creates buzz, excitement, and anticipation, and limiting the number of passes could easily create a sense of urgency. The Date Night Pass campaign, especially in its early days, is at risk of reputational erosion if it sells out, as evidenced by conversations on TikTok and Reddit calling it a scam.
On its website, Applebee’s states that “due to popular demand,” the pass has sold out, and invites visitors to join Club Applebee’s for “future updates.” The chain also reminds visitors that Applebee’s is “always a great destination for date night.” That might help a “little bit.”
I predict that Applebee’s will offer the promotion to more people. – Db
Date night math: let’s see, you spend $200 now for a future payout of $1560 over 52 weeks. Clearly, Applebee’s cannot be profitable based on those numbers, so they limit the number of available passes (write offs on the marketing budget), however, the company can count on purchases beyond the $30 credit per visit and for keeping pass holders out of competitors’ dining rooms.
The pass program is not necessarily novel, but can serve as a learning experiment to be evaluated along the way with a revisit on the decision and details next January. For now, this is just good PR intent to impact on increasing loyalty.
Interesting idea, poor execution. Efforts to generate continuity of purchase should be considered in view of their probability of success & profitability. The subscription concept has the potential to generate a differential advantage for any marketer, but most be appropriate to the target market, easy to execute & profitable.