Playboy Bunny Kendra Wilkinson Does Olive Garden

Unwanted Celeb Endorsements Are the Bane of Existence for Olive Garden and Barack Obama

Sylvia Cochran
You would think that any business would be thrilled by having a blond buxom beauty sing its praises. Olive Garden is not one of them. When Kendra Wilkinson -- Playboy Bunny and one of Hugh Hefner's three shack-up honeys -- could not stop gushing about her love for the Olive Garden restaurant, those in charge of advertising are purportedly making noises about not being happy with the celeb endorsement.

The Wall Street Journal reports that there are some closed door discussion about walking the fine line between ignoring the enthusiastic endorsement of an outspoken fan who does not align well with the public image the company seeks to portray, and taking the bull by the horns and running with it.

The Olive Garden, with its talented waitresses who give a whole new meaning to the birthday song, seeks to portray a family image. Couples visit there to celebrate birthdays and anniversaries, and this is where we take the out of town family friends when they visit. It is not the kind of place Olive Garden higher ups want you to associate with an 82-year-old playboy and his 23-year-young live-in girlfriend who doubles as a reality TV actress.

Unscheduled celebrity endorsements of the famous and infamous are not new to the restaurant industry but during the Presidential campaigns they are a bona fide source of hilarity for onlookers when it is a candidate that receives them. Some of these endorsements are well meaning, but I cannot help but wonder if in the privacy of their homes, both John McCain and Barack Obama have a wall dedicated for repeatedly hitting their heads against when yet another person in front of a TV camera opens his or her mouth.

There was Barbara Streisand who jumped shipped off the Hillary campaign and termed Barack Obama a "trailblazer", as reported by Reuters. Since this defection was highly publicized, it had a less than desirable effect. Rapper Ludacris and his ludicrous statement of wanting to "paint the White House black" is another endorsement Obama could have done without.

Much like the Olive Garden restaurant, Obama has to walk the fine line between dissing the supporter and embracing the endorsement; and just like the politician, the restaurant has adopted the approach of smiling, nodding, and not commenting.

Sources:
http://www.olivegarden.com/default_f.asp
http://www.kendrawilkinson.com/
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121863813894536893.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
http://blogs.reuters.com/fanfare/2008/07/01/barbra-streisand-backs-obama/
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/920371/ludacris_wants_voters_to_paint_white.html?cat=33

Published by Sylvia Cochran - Featured Contributor in Automotive, Politics, Travel and Lifestyle

Sylvia Cochran works out of sunny Southern California and has been freelance writing -- full-time -- since 2005. SEO-optimized Internet copy includes news analysis, political Op/Ed and parenting as well as a...   View profile

7 Comments

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  • Betty Alexander 1/16/2009

    The Olive Garden should be happy to have anyone sing the praises of the food in their restaurant. Just because Kendra likes the Olive Garden doesn't mean that only young girls with sugar daddies like going to the Olive Garden. I thought it was kind of cute that Kendra liked it so much. The Olive Garden honchos should chill out a bit and welcome the compliment.

  • helena mason 8/26/2008

    hi my name is helena and o live in hokitika on the westcoast and i think that the putuers are really coll and u put more on tipe back love helena mason mwah

  • Tyler Mills 8/18/2008

    Most folks who eat at Olive Garden probably haven't heard of her. The executives at OG need to lighten up.

  • Sylvia Cochran 8/18/2008

    Misleading in what way? Because it mentioned a political candidate you support? Because it talks about undesired celeb endorsements that businesses as well as politicians must endure? If you really believe that this is an opinion piece on Obama and McCain, what exactly IS the opinion I stated? Sorry Rose, I don't see your point but I sure appreciate your commenting.

  • Restaurant Chef 8/15/2008

    Great work~!

  • Lucky M. Diaz 8/15/2008

    Thanks for this very interesting and funny article!

  • jcorn 8/15/2008

    Excellent reporting on this but I don't see how the Olive Garden can stop people from giving their Seal of Approval to them. They are getting more publicity from their unwillingness to have a Playboy speak well or seem to endorse them....then if they'd kept quiet about it. Publicity...hmm...could this be the whole point? No couldn't be, could it? :)

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