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How Beyonce Lyrics Caused a Surge in Red Lobster Sales

Authors: Gabrielle Hughes Gabrielle Hughes
Posted Under: Digital Marketing
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This Week in Realtime Media

Entertainment: Beyonce’s Red Lobster Name Drop Causes Sales to Spike

Just before her Super Bowl Sunday performance, Queen ? bestowed a brand new song upon her international fanbase. The music video for “Formation” instantly went viral, and some of the song’s lyrics have caused a media firestorm.

During the latter half of “Formation,” Beyonce reveals she enjoys the popular seafood restaurant, Red Lobster—and her beehive took note. Over the last week, Red Lobster sales have surged 33% since this time last year:
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Since being cast off by Darden Restaurants in 2014, this moment has launched Red Lobster as a trending topic on Twitter for the first time ever. The restaurant chain is now bringing in new patrons, addressing all of the buzz with this initial tweet:

“Cheddar Bey Biscuits” has a nice ring to it, don’t you think? #Formation @Beyonce pic.twitter.com/QzgVtYAKNo

— Red Lobster (@redlobster) February 7, 2016

 

However, many are criticizing Red Lobster’s response, as they waited eight hours after the song was released to respond via social media:
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Still, Beyonce’s mention of Red Lobster may be a classic case of “No such thing as bad publicity.” Even though New Research Shows How Fast Companies Have to Be In Social Media, they are still making big headlines and seeing increased sales from Beyonce’s blessings.

Business: Starbucks Celebrates Valentine’s Day

Whether you are a lonely Starbucks lover or you have a special Cupid connection, the world’s favorite coffee chain is trying to lure you into one of their U.S. or Canadian locations during this week of love.

In honor of Valentine’s Day, Starbucks is introducing three seasonal beverages of a molten chocolate variety:

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Of the limited-edition lattes, frappucinos, and hot chocolates, the molten chocolate latte is receiving the most mentions:
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And how are the specialty beverages being received?

With lots and lots of love.

According to our Starbucks Emoji Cloud, these drinks are being mentioned most alongside?,? ,?, and? :
Screen Shot 2016-02-11 at 12.49.46 PM
As we have seen before, seasonal beverages for Starbucks often cause quite the commotion. And with all of the positive reception around the Valentine’s Day drinks, it seems people may have cast aside the recent Starbucks Holiday Hullabaloo.

Politics: New Hampshire Primary

With another week comes even more developments in the 2016 election. This week, it was the state of New Hampshire Primary that was making headlines.

On Tuesday, voters in the Granite State gathered to cast their ballots in both the GOP and Democratic primaries. Within minutes of polls closing, CNN and several other media outlets projected both Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders the winners of their respective parties.

While noise around the primary remained consistent throughout the day, there was a logical sharp increase in mentions as soon as the winners were announced:
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While there were not too many surprises through the night, John Kasich surely generated buzz around his second place finish. Here is a look at the GOP Share of Voice (excluding Donald Trump) after Trump was declared winner of the New Hampshire primary:
Screen Shot 2016-02-09 at 8.13.43 PM

On the Democratic side, sentiment around Sanders’ win and Clinton’s loss is evident in each of the candidate’s post-primary Emoji Clouds:
Screen Shot 2016-02-09 at 6.10.19 PM

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With the New Hampshire wins contrasting the Cruz and Clinton Iowa Caucus victories, it seems safe to assume both parties have long nominating battles ahead. Will that be the case after the upcoming South Carolina and Nevada showdowns? Stay tuned…

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