FortuneNick Lichtenberg
The real story behind Red Lobster’s $20 Ultimate Endless Shrimp fiasco: How an American seafood icon lost its way
It was the summer of 2023, andRed Lobsterhad announced what it billed as an “iconic first”: “Ultimate Endless Shrimp Is Here to Stay All Day, Every Day.” The casual-dining chain was offering customers all the shrimp they could eat for $20—scampi, coconut, Alfredo-ed, skewered,…
“Insider tip,” the press release advised: “Avoid grabbing the extra biscuit to leave room for endless amounts of shrimp.”
Red Lobster had unwittingly handed creators the perfect stage for a mukbang—the South Korean–born online genre in which hosts eat for an audience, sometimes to spectacular excess. Ambitious mukbang-ers eager to prove their gastronomic stamina descended on Red Lobster locations across the country to consume absurd quantities of shrimp. One YouTube video by Joey Kinsley, a.k.a. “Sir Yacht,” features the influencer shoveling down shrimp for 10 hours straight.
The chaos spread…
Read the full story at Fortune