No good deed goes uncriticized ...

[Hum]

It was meant to be a heartwarming story, proof that there are still plenty of good people in this world. But, instead of chiming in with inspirational examples of their own, Reddit users started picking it apart.

"My brother, wife, 3-year-old daughter and I went to Olive Garden after a recent house fire at my parents," Reddit user Tanek42 wrote on Tuesday. "When the manager asked how everything was, my daughter said, 'Grandpa's house burned down.' Here's how we received the check." He included a picture of the check, with every item comped and a total balance due of $0.00.

While a few people responded with kudos for the restaurant's manager, most were skeptical about Tanek42's story.

"Why does it say "Duplicate Receipt - Stored Order" at the bottom? Is this an indication that this is a copy of the receipt, and it may be the manager posting this?" asked one user. Others pointed out that the Olive Garden logo was a little too perfectly placed, and wondered about the restaurant's ulterior motives.

"I used to manage another national chain and would frequently comp meals for people for no other reason than to promote goodwill," wrote "lukaro." "We were actually encouraged to do so."

As people tried to puzzle it out, one Reddit user offered up a theory.

"OP [original poster] probably works for a company called Grey Worldwide, which is OG's advertising agency. Someone probably thought this idea up last week and they did some data analysis to see the perfect time to get upvotes?and had a bunch of Grey employees upvote as well," wrote "iworkinadvertising," who called himself (or herself) a journalist who covers advertising. "This is basically free advertising. It screws Redditors over by blurring the line between what's real and what's advertising, and it screws Reddit over by circumventing them for free advertising."

The image?and the outrage?quickly went viral, prompting Olive Garden's parent company, Darden, to defend itself and its customers.

"The receipt is real and was posted by the guests, not by anyone at Olive Garden or Darden," Tara Gray said, media and communication manager for Darden.

"We are always looking for ways to surprise and delight our guests, and this was one of the ways the Olive Garden team in Vernon Hills, Ill., did that last weekend."

Darden's marketing firm, Grey Worldwide, also denied they played a part in the posting.

"Grey had absolutely nothing to do with post concerning Olive Garden," a representative told Consumerist. "It would be against our code of conduct."

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[Nick H. Supervisor]

So when the customer reports that they got a free meal it's ok, but when the company says that they gave a free meal it's not ok? I mean, the family still got a free meal for their unfortunate circumstances, I don't mind who informed me about it either way.

(Yes, I get the advertising aspect, but a free meal is a free meal, no?)

[Richteralan]

from reddit?

why I'm not surprised.

[ShareShiz]

Yeah. Free advertising.

[Growled Member]

People on the internet get weirder every day. Instead of finding solutions, they invent problems.

[Hum]

^ There really are no problems -- only solutions. ;)

[remixedcat]

they think everyone's evil.

[Stoffel]

I find it very sad that everything has to get a bad spin on it lately, seems like it is a 1st world problem though.

You see the same here on Neowin. There is always somebody trying to spin anything in a negative way.

I feel sorry for these people. Life can be so much nicer if you have a positive view.

[remixedcat]

I think everyone needs to try to find the good in places and people that you never thought possible... I have and it's worked wonders for me.

[Yogurtmaster]

"The biggest problem with humanity, is humanity itself."

[Hum]

I find it very sad that everything has to get a bad spin on it lately, seems like it is a 1st world problem though.

You see the same here on Neowin. There is always somebody trying to spin anything in a negative way.

I feel sorry for these people. Life can be so much nicer if you have a positive view.

Ah, someone is learning. :happy:

[compl3x]

^ There really are no problems -- only solutions. ;)

What? Are you trying to be profound?

So when the customer reports that they got a free meal it's ok, but when the company says that they gave a free meal it's not ok? I mean, the family still got a free meal for their unfortunate circumstances, I don't mind who informed me about it either way.

(Yes, I get the advertising aspect, but a free meal is a free meal, no?)

I think you may be missing the point & misunderstanding the story. If a company or their advertisers/marketers invent a story about the goodwill of the company that never happened vs. a real customer sharing an actual story, it absolutely matters. I obviously can't comment on this story because I have no way of verifying it. I generally believe very little of what I read, especially on sites like reddit.

Perhaps it is sad people are generally cynical, but that is life.

[Growled Member]

^ There really are no problems -- only solutions. ;)

Wait until you meet me in person. You'll change your mind then. :D

[Nick H. Supervisor]

I think you may be missing the point & misunderstanding the story. If a company or their advertisers/marketers invent a story about the goodwill of the company that never happened vs. a real customer sharing an actual story, it absolutely matters.

I can appreciate your stance, but there is nothing in the story that makes me think, "wow, this didn't happen." The whole fuss is over the fact that the company publicised the free meal instead of the customer, which is just silly.

[tiagosilva29]

The whole fuss is over the fact that the company publicised the free meal instead of the customer, which is just silly.

Sigh. The problem is that some people don't seem to understand the meaning of selflessness.

• Just giving someone a free meal after a personal tragedy is being selfless. You are only concerned about that person, you have no personal interest on this. If someone talks about this, you're like "Okay".
• Giving someone a free meal after a personal tragedy while paying to an agent to shout "LOOK HOW SELFLESS THIS COMPANY IS!" and broadcast these events everywhere is not selfless. You may or not be concerned about that person, but you are not altruist/selfless because you have invested on gaining a personal interest on this.

[Nick H. Supervisor]

Sigh. The problem is that some people don't seem to understand the meaning of selflessness.

I get that, but I don't think you realise how much I don't care. I read the article and went through the following discussion with myself:

• Did the family receive a free meal?
  

Yes.

• Has it made the news because the family didn't inform us, and instead the restaurant did?
  

Yes.

• Do I care who informed me about the act?
  

Not really.

• Is the act still a show of goodwill, regardless of who informed me?
  

Yes.

You could replace the restaurant with Lucifer and I would still be happy to hear about it.

[siah1214]

Doesn't matter, the original story was 100% accurate as OP had posted it. Reddit just decided to stir up **** where there wasn't any **** to be stirred.

Source:

http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/1b3wfu/that_olive_garden_receipt_is_fake_its_free/c93dkn6

[Rippleman]

some of you are missing the point. Imagine if you will this scenario: you are listening to the radio and you hear a drinking and driving ad. At the end of the anti drinking and driving ad you hear "This message brought to you by Company A". Would Company A have paid for the ad if they had not had their name tagged at the end? 99% chance not. This is not caring. This is advertising. This would be the difference of the company posting it (taking credit for a managers selfless act) or if the customers posted it.

[compl3x]

I thought a family member in the dinner party posted on reddit about the free meal, but some redditors called bull**** and then the company responded saying it wasn't planted on reddit by them.

I can appreciate your stance, but there is nothing in the story that makes me think, "wow, this didn't happen." The whole fuss is over the fact that the company publicised the free meal instead of the customer, which is just silly.

"The receipt is real and was posted by the guests, not by anyone at Olive Garden or Darden,"

Does my reading comprehension suck or does yours?

The customer posted the story, but people thought it might have been OG or their marketers/advertisers who planted the story to get free advertising by manipulating people's feelings about the company doing something good.

[Nick H. Supervisor]

This is advertising. This would be the difference of the company posting it (taking credit for a managers selfless act) or if the customers posted it.

Well for an advertisment it did nothing for me. I have not changed my opinion about the restaurant, I will not suddenly increase my visits because of this story. I read it and thought, "good going, guys" and nothing else.