Olive Garden has a $100, seven week 'Never Ending Pasta Pass'
By RYAN GORMAN
Olive Garden is desperate for your attention.
The Italian chain restaurant's newest promotion is a $100 "Never Ending Pasta Pass" that gives the holder unlimited food for seven weeks. It also allows for limitless salad, breadsticks and sodas as well.
There are no limits to how many visits, meals, bites or gulps one person can have, a spokesperson for the restaurant told USA Today.
But there is a limit to how many will be sold. Only 1,000 of the carb cards will be offered Monday at 3:00 p.m. They will be sold on the company's website.
"What we're trying to do is get some attention," executive vice president of marketing Jay Spenchian told the paper. "It's sure to provoke a reaction."
That reaction has not exactly been positive.
Olive Garden, stop trying to make carbs happen
- Kate Hendricks (@katethewasp) September 8, 2014
You couldn't pay me $100 to want to eat at Olive Garden. lol
- 'elle (@Gabriellegance) September 8, 2014
Olive Garden: Nobody's eating any of our mediocre "Italian" food, so let's offer them even more of it!
- Kurt Sevits (@kurtsevits) September 8, 2014
I wonder how much the Olive Garden season tickets will go for on StubHub
- Alex Fitzpatrick (@AlexJamesFitz) September 8, 2014
"This truly is more a dare than a deal," tweeted Mike McGehee.
"I'm equal parts revulsion and intrigue," wrote Jason Foscolo.
Olive Garden's stunt is just the latest in a series of bizarre all-you-can-eat promotions from fast casual dining establishments clawing themselves back from the depths of the recession.
TGI Fridays kicked off July with a $10 "Endless Appetizers" campaign, Red Lobster's "Endless Shrimp" fest is currently ravaging customer's constitutions and Outback Steakhouse is winding down $15.99 steak and bottomless shrimp.
The "Never Ending Pasta Pass" is the unholy evolution of the chain's famous "Never Ending Pasta Bowl," which runs from September 22 until November 9 and costs $9.99.
Will you buy one of these cards? Let us know in the comments.
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