Last year, Olive Garden pulled off the impressive feat of both pissing people off and making them fat when they introduced the Never-Ending Pasta Pass, which sold out quicker than you can choke down a breadstick. Only 1,000 of the cards, which allow you an unlimited amount of Olive Garden over a seven-week span, were made available, and the chain’s website crashed.
The passes, which Olive Garden’s executive vice president of marketing sees as a “a manifestation of Italian generosity,” haven’t been heard from since last September… until today. And they’re still ticking off enthusiasts. The restaurant’s official Facebook reports “our Pasta Passes have officially sold out,” but 20 lucky (?) souls can still win one this weekend.
And thus, a conspiracy was born. These are actual Facebook responses from actual people:
No way these sold out THAT fast. Something stinks in surburbia.
There had to be something wrong with this. I waited for 30 minutes. I love Olive Garden but this seemed like a scam to me.
This has totally changed the way I feel about the Olive Garden. I will never patronize them again after this scam.
Seriously?!? I watched the countdown clock on the website and once it hit 0, it immediately said they were all sold out! No way! Thinking something’s fishy here…
They did NOT sell out in LESS than 1 millasecond! COME ON. Treat your customers with more class & dignity and perhaps the TRUTH.
How can you be sold out in Zero seconds? I sat here online and happily waited… watching your clock click down… 3,2,1, and then a message pops up automatically saying you are SOLD OUT of the passes?!!! This really hurts. I guess my family doesn’t know the right people to get your inside deal? You obviously took pre-orders. Again, this just hurts.
Bullcrap. It cant sell out in the first ONE second of the sale. How is that even logically possible? Did your employees buy them all?? Why are none available to customers?
Officially sold out before it started!!! Thanks a lot Olive Garden. 2PM rolls around and no one gets a pass??? You just lost a lot a customers for this scam.
I am disappointed for all the hype about Never Ending Pasta Pass, Good job at running a switch and bait policy Olive Garden. How can you be sold out in less than 10 seconds? I’ll let my family members to select other restaurants if we want to do eat Italian food.
Yeah. shame on you Olive Garden for shady practices. No way these sold out in an instant. My mom also is one of those considering deleting her account with you guys because of this.
This was a pure scam. I got the countdown timer and when it went to zero, it automatically loaded a page that the Pasta Pass were sold out. Olive Garden, can you prove to us that this was not a hoaxs? Please show us the receipts that all Pasta Passes were sold !!!!!!!!!!!!
Olive Garden you owe us an explanation!!
BIG PASTA STRIKES AGAIN.
I will vote for whichever presidential candidate gets to the bottom of #olivegate2015.
(Via Olive Garden’s Facebook)