Applebee’s Mocks Social Media Users In An Attempt To Go Viral On Social Media

Of all the ways to go viral, Applebee’s has chosen to make fun of the very people it wants to spread its message: social media users.

Last week, the company launched a campaign that revolves around LifeIsBetterShared.com, which redirects to a Tumblr at lifebettershared.tumblr.com, and includes three videos that mock mommy bloggers, Twitter users and Pinterest users.

The whole idea seems to be that, if you’re going to share, it’s better to do it face-to-face. At an Applebee’s restaurant. And, if you’re sharing on social media, you’re pretty much a loser. That’s what I get out of watching the videos, but you can judge for yourself:

The Roost

Tweet Beat

Pintastic

Is the campaign working?

A spokesperson for the marketing agency that worked on the campaign told MediaBistro last week that it’s been so-so.

We launched yesterday and so far the reviews are mixed. Some good and some bad. It’s been described as ‘brilliant.’ It’s been described as ‘hilarious.’ It’s been described as ‘condescending.’ It’s been described as ‘Applebee’s thinks women need to get offline.’ I guess that’s what happens when you use social media to poke a little fun at social media.

I don’t know. I tend to think it’s fine to use social media poke fun at social media … as long as it’s funny. I’m guessing that many people aren’t LOLing at Applebee’s campaign.

[Ed. note: This story was edited after Applebees removed its original videos from YouTube. The same videos were embedded from a user account on Vimeo.]