Ruth’s Chris Steak House College Football Promo Backfires

Last Friday, Ruth’s Chris Steak House in Ann Arbor offered up a a fairly straightforward promotion to coincide with the weekend’s Michigan-Rutgers game: From Sunday to Thursday, the restaurant would discount meals to match the winning point differential. If Michigan wins by 20 points, diners get 20 percent off their meal. Easy enough, right? Sure, until the game was a total blowout, with Michigan winning 78 to nothing.

Unsurprisingly, the promotion turned out to be a big hit, though the restaurant has since edited its status to say it will only honor discounts of 50 percent (the original update did not mention a cap on discounts). The promotion also now excludes alcohol and requires the purchase of an entrée:

Still, fans are excited about 50 percent off steaks, so much so that the restaurant now says there are no reservations for the remainder of the promotion:

One Facebook commenter who managed to snag a reservation said she made hers early: during the third quarter of the game. But others are casting doubts that the restaurant is indeed booked solid, arguing that the promo appears to be little more than a marketing stunt:

A couple of angry fans have also taken to the restaurant’s Yelp profile to express their disappointment with the outcome of the promotion:

It’s worth noting that if the restaurant isn’t actually booked, it’s doing a really good job of hiding it. According to OpenTable, the restaurant’s next available reservation is on Friday at 6:15 p.m., just 24 hours after the promotion ends.

• Rutgers is So Much Worse Than Michigan, It's Gonna Cost the Ann Arbor Ruth's Chris a Whole Bunch of Money [SB Nation]
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