Omnivore - PR email of the week

I received this mail from Christie Stewart of Murphy O’Brien Public Relations:

Hi Cliff-

Saturday, July 30, is National Cheesecake Day and The Cheesecake Factory is celebrating with the introduction of a new cheesecake flavor and special offer for dine-in guests.

Dine-in guests on July 30 can enjoy “Any Slice at Half Price,” and choose from more than 30 flavors or be among the first to try the new Hershey’s Chocolate Bar Cheesecake. This flavor features silky smooth Hershey’s Chocolate Cheesecake between layers of moist chocolate cake and ganache, finished with creamy chocolate frosting and chocolate chips.

Are you interested in writing about “Any Slice at Half Price” and the new cheesecake flavor? I’m happy to share a high-res image (right).

I’m really not interested in writing about this at all. My meal at The Cheesecake Factory almost 20 years ago remains one of my scariest restaurant memories. If you want a small taste of how weird this place can be, check out their home page, which stars a human being cursed, apparently, to smile until she is stabbed in the face, if not longer.

But seriously, I don’t like cheesecake pretending to be something else. And National Cheesecake Day is apparently something the restaurant created itself, because nobody seems to be able to document its origins.

But any publicity is good publicity, right?