ORLANDO, Fla. — Red Lobster’s surprise mention in a new Beyonce song is showing the Orlando-based restaurant chain the power of pop music, and the fickle nature of social media.
Red Lobster spokeswoman Erica Ettori said a mention in the song “Formation” released over the weekend resulted in a 33 percent increase in Sunday business compared to Super Bowl Sunday 2015.
In a surprise to officials at the company, “Formation” mentioned the casual dining chain in the third verse of the release that mixes racial imagery, luxury fashion and marital jealousy from the reigning queen of pop music.
“When he whoops me good I take his (expletive) to Red Lobster, cause I slay,” Beyonce repeats in the “radio friendly” version of the song.
The song was released Saturday on the streaming music service run by Beyonce’s husband, Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter.
Red Lobster CEO Kim Lopdrup said name drop was unsolicited and unexpected.
“We certainly never expected to be such a hot topic of conversation,” Lopdrup said. “We’re glad that she’s a fan and that’s she’s made her fans fans of Red Lobster.”
Red Lobster saw another sales increase Monday night “well into the double digits” as the public digested the new song online and during the NFL’s championship game.
The song mention, even in a controversial release, was enough to put Red Lobster into the top trending categories on Twitter, Ettori said. That was the first time Red Lobster has ever trended on Twitter.
It was Beyonce’s first new single in two years. The song was performed at the Super Bowl Sunday night and was part of an announcement of a new tour from the pop singer.
The announcement of the song and a tweet from Red Lobster Sunday had dozens of people criticizing the restaurant chain for a lack of creativity.
Posters also lambasted Red Lobster for the 10-hour delay between “Formation’s” release and the restaurant’s first response on social media.
“Controversial or not, when you get called out like that by a major star you have to respond,” said Ashley Cisneros, co-founder of Orlando social media and marketing firm Chatter Buzz Media.
In a rare move, Red Lobster was being criticized for a “lame” tweet as opposed to saying something controversial, Cisneros said.
“The social media is a bit of a wild, wild west and 10 hours is an eternity,” Cisneros said.
Red Lobster’s social media team did try to play off the Twitter criticism, later apologizing for taking so long to send a tweet.
“Different people have different perspectives and we probably could have responded a little faster,” Lopdrup said. “But clearly we have gotten into the game. We are pleased with the positive responses.”
Red Lobster garnered about 43,000 mentions on Twitter over the weekend, many of which either tweeted the lyrics or mentioned Red Lobster positively, Ettori said.
Lopdrup said he didn’t know anything about the song until he was told by a friend Saturday after Red Lobster began trending on Twitter.
Red Lobster has continued tweeting over the last four days about the song.
“They should try to continue to capitalize on the publicity from this by tying it into Beyonce’s upcoming tour,” said Matt Heindl, social media director with Zimmerman Advertising in Fort Lauderdale. “They can hold events along the tour for fans and even do promotional menus.”
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