NEW YORK The National Advertising Division of the Council of Better Business Bureaus has referred advertising by Captain D’s Seafood Kitchen to the Federal Trade Commission after the chain declined to participate in a NAD review based on an ad-claim challenge by Red Lobster.
The challenge was lodged against Captain D’s website advertising and “What You Get” TV spot, depicting a scene in a parking lot within sight of a Red Lobster restaurant. The Red Lobster name is mentioned and the chain’s sign and logo are occasionally shown.
The spot opens on a Captain D’s representative hailing two dining parties that have left the Red Lobster restaurant. One man says his party spent $80 for their meal, and another says his party paid $100. The Captain D’s representative brings out several of the fast-food chain’s entrees and says, “Let me show you what you could’ve got at Captain D’s: our wild Alaskan salmon dinner, seasoned tilapia dinner — wow, they keep coming — seafood scampi platter, shrimp skewers.” A Red Lobster patron says, “It’s like the same thing we just ate.”
The representative says the diners could have gotten the same amount of food plus “30 back, 45 bucks back,” and a voice-over says, “sit-down food at fast-food prices.”
Red Lobster contended that the Captain D’s food shown in the spot are not comparable in content, quality or any other “consumer-relevant manner” to Red Lobster higher-quality entrees, and that those differences were not disclosed. The casual-dining chain also took issue with the Captain D’s price comparisons, saying that when the chain calculated the savings it compared the total price for the dinner at Red Lobster — including beverages, appetizers, desserts, tax and tip — to only specific dinner items from Captain D’s menu.
Captain D’s “respectfully declined” to participate in the review, according to NAD.
Red Lobster, a division of Orlando, Fla.-based Darden Restaurants Inc., has nearly 700 units. Captain D’s is owned by Sagittarius Brands Inc. of Nashville, Tenn., and has more than 550 units.
