*Weekend sales at Red Lobster saw a significant boost thanks to Beyonce and her new song “Formation” and its explicit lyrics involving the seafood chain.
The video, posted on Saturday, already has more than 17 million views as of Tuesday morning. And sales at Red Lobster jumped 33 percent on Sunday over last year, the company reported today.
“We are absolutely delighted with what we saw over the weekend, particularly the consumer sentiment that we saw expressed,” Kim Lopdrup, CEO of Red Lobster, told CNBC. “It’s clear that Beyonce has helped create some Red Lobster fans, and we are very grateful to her for that.”
The restaurant traditionally experiences a spike in sales during this time of year due to their annual “Lobster Fest” promotion, but Lopdrup credits this weekend’s boost to Queen Bey. The company refers to it as the “Beyonce Bounce” and some of its employees have already begun renaming popular menu items after the pop star.
Cheddar Bay Biscuits are now Cheddar “Bey” Biscuits and their Bay Breeze drinks are “Bey” Breezes.
Red Lobster also saw a spike on social media over the weekend, earning more than 300,000 tweets and trending on Twitter for the first time in the brand’s history.
A response tweeted by the company earned more than 14,200 likes and 13,600 retweets — the most the company has ever received. Google searches for the brand also spiked, according to the company.
“Cheddar Bey Biscuits” has a nice ring to it, don’t you think? #Formation @Beyonce pic.twitter.com/QzgVtYAKNo
— Red Lobster (@redlobster) February 7, 2016
“We had an amazing weekend, particularly Super Bowl Sunday, which I think helps demonstrate the power of celebrity endorsement and pop culture,” Lopdrup said.
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