In a matter of only minutes, the Applebee’s Date Night Pass sold out on Jan. 22.
The chain restaurant had a promotion where a “date night pass” could be purchased and every day from Feb. 1, 2024 through Jan. 31, 2025, patrons could get $30 off an order of food and non-alcoholic drinks. The pass, which was $200, could only be used once every 24 hours.
“Due to popular demand, the Applebee’s Date Night Pass has sold out!” A statement on the Applebee’s website read. “But make sure to join Club Applebee’s for future updates and remember that Applebee’s is always a great destination for date night.”
According to some social media users, the offer ended as soon as it began.
Wtf @Applebees so your website crashes and then 2 minutes later this is sold out?? Is this a joke?? I was waiting exactly at 11 AM. This is bs man. pic.twitter.com/2hzZepSXtm
— Jonathan Jarrell (@Jarrell_JD) January 22, 2024
Applebees finessed everybody and used the Date Night Pass for free social media publicity pic.twitter.com/OT6miR2xHA
— Professional Tourist 🧭 (@ProTouristJay) January 22, 2024
Applebees date night pass went on sale at 12pmEST. Website crashed the first few minutes. By the time I got in, sold out
SMH
Date Night Pass #DateNightPass pic.twitter.com/l3BkxvdRRx
— Brad Fliller (@bfliller) January 22, 2024
“I’m convinced the passes were never real to begin with,” @LumpyWumpus posted on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Applebee’s date night pass be like: pic.twitter.com/OVc3JTYF7n
— 🌙Heather🛸 (@CosmicHeather) January 22, 2024
Lost in a sea of social media complaints and accusations of the entire promotion being a scam are still some customers who raved about the restaurant’s $14.99 all-you-can-eat selection of boneless wings, riblets and double crunch shrimp.
The latest stunt from Applebee’s is reminiscent of other national restaurant promotions gone bad, like in 2009 when Oprah promoted KFC’s new grilled chicken. For viewers to sample the food, she allowed people to print out a coupon for a free two-piece meal. KFCs around the country quickly ran out of chicken and had to distribute rain checks for guests to redeem their reward from Ms. Winfrey.
