The casual dining mega-chain is combining a series of four entirely unsubtle video spots (featuring what one might call "mood music" and a flirtatious female voiceover) with an open call for customers to post pictures of their burgers on Twitter and Instagram with the hashtag #funbetweenthebuns. The luckiest users will have their dining exploits posted at funbetweenthebuns.com.
According to social analytics tracker Topsy, the hashtag has been tweeted more than 3,000 times over the past month. The reviews, as you can imagine, have been mixed.
Here's what people are saying:
Dear ruby Tuesday, having a hashtag that is #funbetweenthebuns is giving me horrid thoughts of what goes on there....
- NewEnglandGirlProbz (@NEGirlprobz) September 5, 2013
Best campaign ive seen in a while. @hughscrafton I just saw some #FunBetweentheBuns C'mon, Everyone's doing it! http://t.co/neQ2izfoag
- Alan Adams (@OtownStillerFan) August 13, 2013
Ruby Tuesday promoting their burgers with a #funbetweenthebuns hashtag might be the greatest marketing campaign of all time
- AJ Devine (@Champ1192) September 5, 2013
Ruby Tuesday should really consider renaming their website... Nobody goes to http://t.co/oYp022hPNq looking for burgers.
- Jason Fugate (@FugateTheGreat) August 16, 2013
And here's how Ruby Tuesday has been responding:
@socarolinesays Oh there is definitely a winner here, and it's our buns. #funbetweenthebuns
- Ruby Tuesday (@rubytuesday) September 5, 2013
@Eojbakura Do you think our buns are a joke? We're not sure how to feel about this. #funbetweenthebuns
- Ruby Tuesday (@rubytuesday) September 5, 2013
For what it's worth, the campaign is probably not for everyone. Ruby Tuesday is currently working to move downmarket to cater toward diners on a budget, after the brand's attempt at becoming fancier went down in flames as the recession hit.
While the crude humor might be a bit raunchy for an upper-class audience, it could conceivably hit the right tenor with customers who appreciate Ruby Tuesdays' disregard for the mores of so-called "polite society." That is, of course, if those customers find the unconventional ads clever enough to be funny.