Romano’s Macaroni Grill

Once upon a time, Romano’s Macaroni Grill hired the former CEO of Olive Garden to revitalize the brand and utterly destroy his former employer. To that end, he set about revamping the Mac Grill menu from one that said “I’m carbo-loading for the big race” to one that spoke in EVOO-tinted whispers of healthy Mediterranean living. In the guise of radio, those whispers took the form of actor Stanley Tucci. On television, we went even quieter – cutting through the noise with a lack thereof. Sales spiked whenever the spots ran. Sadly, not as much as the cost of maintaining such a healthy menu and the CEO was eventually asked to hand in his gluten-free breadsticks.