The 9 Most Over-The-Top Red Lobster Promotions

Red Lobster is no stranger to headlines. From wild promotions and rumors of bankruptcy related to its Ultimate Endless Shrimp to actually declaring bankruptcy in 2024, it's the kind of chain you can rely on for quirky marketing and decent, affordable seafood (aside from the meals to avoid ordering there based on reviews). With over 500 locations across the U.S. and Canada, it has historically earned around $2 billion in annual sales, yet it still had to financially restructure and go through the pains of bankruptcy. Many claim that the restaurant's downfall was its own doing, as it offered ridiculous promotions, such as the aforementioned shrimp deal. In any case, looking to turn a corner with a new CEO and menu, the chain now hopes to find its stride once again.

The bigger question is: Can Red Lobster, which has struggled to maintain being the largest seafood chain restaurant in the world, find solid footing while balancing against door crasher-style marketing specials? Moreover, with plans to remodel all of its locations and ongoing supply-chain issues for Chinese-sourced shrimp facing steep tariffs, it has a long road ahead. Here, we take a look back at the nine most zany and over-the-top marketing moves by Red Lobster, putting itself at the forefront of chain restaurant lore and satiating millions of seafood fans in the process. Bust out that bib, and dive in!

Back in the Bush Jr. era, Red Lobster's marketing team was looking to make a splash and get more customers into the restaurant. In the summer of 2003, the chain launched its Endless Crab all-you-can-eat promotion, much to the chagrin of company accountants and the delight of crab fishermen. The special was offered at over 600 of its locations at the time, and it was indeed true to its word; each customer was entitled to order as many crab plates as they could ingest. According to Red Lobster accountants, the promo was profitable if a customer only ordered two plates of snow crab, but successive plates of the dish would push them into a loss. Early 2000s seafood fans and crab enthusiasts were apparently hungry people and would often surpass the critical two-plate profit point, taking down three or more plates of juicy crab.

A perfect storm of bad portion prediction and small snow crab catches combined with high wholesale prices of the delectable crustaceans meant that profit margins for the special were squeezed tighter and tighter. The initial cost of the crab deal was $22.99, but once franchisees were alerted of the non-profitability issue, that price rose. This, in the end, didn't help, and the chain took a staggering loss of $3.3 million in just seven weeks, while customers waddled out the door in crab-induced food comas. Needless to say, this promo, while on paper sounded good, was a flop.

As if the company hadn't learned a lesson 20 years prior, in 2023, Red Lobster reintroduced the "endless" promo again, only this time, with shrimp. Its all-you-can-eat shrimp special was dubbed "Ultimate Endless Shrimp," and it meant the company was yet again looking to stir up interest in the market. Perhaps the marketing and accounting teams thought they had gotten it right this time and really crunched those numbers before turning the key on a proverbial shrimp conveyor belt. But it was, like the endless crab special before it, doomed to fail.

It was originally only meant to be a limited-time offer, but the then-CEO, Paul Kenny, decided it would be a good idea to make the promo a permanent menu offering. Here's the catch: It was only $20.00. In this economy, anything buffet-style for 20 bucks is going to make people's ears perk up, especially considering the company's endless crab special costs — when adjusted for inflation — double at around $40.18. When the dust settled, Red Lobster suffered an eye-watering $11 million loss, which in turn affected its relationship with Thai Union, the company's seafood supplier. Thai Union ended up recording its own losses of $19 million due to this endless shrimp fiasco, which led it to later cut ties with the chain. Talk about a bad deal.

In 2016, Beyoncé did a surprise drop of her single "Formation," debuting exclusively on her husband's Spotify competitor, Tidal, and her own official YouTube channel. The mid-tempo pop song has a strong focus on the R&B diva's southern roots, in addition to some salacious references to, you guessed it, Red Lobster. Essentially, Beyoncé states in a cheeky way that she likes to bring her lover to the famous seafood restaurant after hooking up (only in a more NSFW manner). The chain's marketing team was quick to pick up on the name-drop, quickly moving to capitalize on the product placement within Beyoncé's sultry and silly lyrics.

The whole thing gained a ton of steam on the heels of the song coming out during Super Bowl weekend, when Red Lobster went viral on X (then Twitter). The chain posted, "'Cheddar Bey Biscuits' has a nice ring to it, don't you think? #Formation @Beyonce," following it up by an even more cringe-inducing move with limited release t-shirts that read, "Someone Thinks I'm #Lobsterworthy." All told, this unintentional publicity cleverly exploited by Red Lobster provided a temporary 33% sales increase. Not bad. Conspiracy types will say it was planned, but we think it was just a fun, random sequence of events and yet another quirky promo within the lobstersphere.

Post-Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection status, Red Lobster found itself on the ropes, looking to get back into the hearts and minds of seafood fans. Pop culture moments and going viral never hurt, but there's also old-school advertising that still takes up a large chunk of modern marketing efforts. Rap icon-turned-reality TV persona Flavor Flav, being a massive fan of the seafood chain, reached out to lend a hand with a new campaign, on the heels of the bankruptcy announcement.

In 2024, the restaurant launched "Crab Your Way," a campaign cobbled together by creative agency BarkleyOKRP, to address internet rumors that Red Lobster was disappearing. It served as a way to lean into the company's seasonal Crabfest promotion, with deals to be had on steamed crab legs smothered in compound butter. It also revolved around the #SaveTheBiscuits hashtag, which fans of the chain created to bring awareness to Red Lobster's existential worries, which was even shared by Flavor Flav himself. This collaboration, though random and unexpected, feels wholesome given how much the rap icon genuinely loves the restaurant.

NBA all-star Blake Griffin joins the ranks of Beyoncé and Flavor Flav as yet another celebrity helping out the ailing lobster chain. To celebrate and promote the yearly Lobsterfest special and its return, the restaurant enlisted Griffin's help in an over-the-top and cheesy television commercial, which made multiple references to "dunking" in the context of dipping lobster into butter. It's silly, fun, and exactly what you'd expect from Red Lobster as a way to drum up excitement for the brand as it looks to recoup lost ground.

The 2025 special, which ran from February to April, featured a meal called Blake Griffin's Way, and it came with a rock lobster tail, combined with new items of garlicky, buttery Maine lobster and lobster mac and cheese. Red Lobster unveiled a customizable menu configured for the promotion, which enabled guests to choose between two or three lobster entrées, in addition to two sides. The price was either $41.99 for the two-entree option or $52.99 for three. To round out the Griffin promo, new menu items were introduced for the launch, including a lobster linguine and a lobster pappardelle pasta. Sounds like a slam dunk!

Amidst company turmoil and depressing financial statements in 2024, Red Lobster was back at it again with its brand of door crasher promos. This time, to celebrate Lobsterfest, it decided to run an "Endless Lobster Experience" promotion for the first time, combined with those delicious warm Cheddar Bay Biscuits. But there was a catch. It was actually a giveaway veiled as a promotion, which meant it was only available to 150 winners in the U.S. market and couldn't be bought as a menu offering. The entire experience was to last two hours, and the contest itself was free to enter.

Of course, like most contests and giveaways administered by large companies, there's always the fine print to consider. Here, the company put forth a rule that customers could only consume 12 Maine lobsters of a bit over 1 pound each in size, with subsequent lobster tails offered. A dozen lobsters in one sitting seems like it would be too much, but if we know anything, it's that Red Lobster fans can have insatiable appetites.

A chance to win free Red Lobster for four years is pretty epic as far as chain restaurant contests go, which is exactly what happened in fall of 2024. The company joined forces with Cheddar Bay Biscuits, creating a political spoof-type campaign, showing a "bite-partisan" side to customers via social media and TV spots in the form of a parody. The restaurant's official website stated, per the campaign launch, that it would "call out stale policies" of other restaurant breads and that its Ultimate Feast dinner would "unite them for the butter." 

It's all very cheesy and slapstick, but behind the marketing schtick was a pretty enticing contest to be entered by any lobster lover with a pulse. The totality of the four-year offer comprised $100 a month, which was awarded via Red Lobster gift cards. Now that some of the winners are one year into their term, with three left to go, it begs the question: Can you get sick of Red Lobster? Time will tell.

Here we have yet another zany promotion from 2024. Back in April, our favorite lobster chain decided to leverage the help of AI to promote biscuits. In an attempt to get customers excited about those yummy, unlimited Cheddar Bay Biscuits, it used AI technology to craft 30 songs revolving around fluffy and cheesy biscuits as the focus. Red Lobster called the promo Cheddar Bay-I — yes, you read that right. Inspired by fans, some of the track titles include "Biscuit Rhapsody," "Butter Ball," and "Fluffy Clouds," complete with corresponding cover art.

The songs were hosted on the chain's official YouTube channel, free for streaming, spanning genres like country and '90s hip-hop. The promotion led into National Biscuit Day the following month, where another song was to drop commemorating the day. Whether the high-tech song crafting helped to get customers stoked about biscuits and lobster is anyone's guess, but I think we can agree this promo is fun and lighthearted.

Pastor Shirley Caesar, for those who may not be familiar, is a legendary gospel singer from North Carolina who is referred to as the "First Lady of Gospel Music" by some and appreciated for her voice by many. Or perhaps you're familiar with her voice, but you just don't know the face, as she has been featured in memes edited down and looped with lyrics naming off green beans, potatoes, and tomatoes — yeah, that song. In 2023, the singer was back in the pop culture conversation when she partnered with Red Lobster for a holiday promo called the Lobster and Shrimp Celebration. 

The commercial had Caesar remixing her original song that had become that infamous pandemic food meme, only this time it would reference Cheddar Bay Stuffing that was included as part of a Family Holiday Sides To Go menu. Her remix of a remix, if you will, allowed her another chance to go viral and the restaurant some clutch marketing cache right before they fell on tough times. While the TV spot didn't save Red Lobster from bankruptcy, it did bring Caesar's powerful pipes back into American homes one more time.