Manhattan businesspeople longing for the good ole days when expense accounts ran high are the target of an innovative marketing idea from pricey midtown steakhouse Maloney & Porcelli. “Expense-a-Steak,” deemed “one of the cleverest ideas we have seen in 24 years of AdReview-ing” by Ad Age’s Bob Garfield, is an app that aims to lure back corporate clients.
At expenseasteak.com, patrons fill in the amount of their Maloney & Porcelli bill and the site generates a printable PDF of phony receipts for taxis, deli lunches, office supplies and the like. And voila, the meal can be expensed on the sly. Garfield reports that 61,000 fake receipts were downloaded in the site’s first four days.
To complete the stealth experience, Maloney & Porcelli provides “camouflage” doggie bags. Walrus, the boutique responsible for the campaign, explains that the restaurant offers a choice of bags sporting the logos of cheap-and-basic restaurants, leaving patrons “completely invisible to the watchful eyes of the etiquette police.” It’s a perfect realization of “brown bag luxury,” a trend we cited in our “90 Things to Watch for 2009” forecast.
The campaign’s over-the-top tone provides telling insight into current perceptions of luxury spending—since living high on the hog is looking more and more like the spoils of crime, people are going to great lengths to avoid seeming like accomplices.
Ethical questions aside, this strategy can only benefit Maloney & Porcelli. With many high-end restaurants relying on promotions and discount messaging, Maloney & Porcelli is attracting interest by staying true to its core image as a place for luxury dining. When the economy recovers, the restaurant won’t have to worry about moving its image back up-market.
Photo credit: expenseasteak.com
If only I didn’t spend 8k on duster when I put in 8,888.88, i’d be alright :X