Comments (0) Best Shameless Tweeting - 2009
P.F. Chang's China Bistro and "superfan" Adam Aponte
When we got a press release last summer stating that a self-proclaimed "superfan" of P.F. Chang's China Bistro was about to go on a seven-state road trip in order to eat at as many different (and yet exactly the same) restaurants as possible — all for the sheer joy that Mongolian Beef brings him — we were a little skeptical. To say the least. The kicker was that this fan was going to document every noodly, rice-filled, or fried meal of his trip on Twitter. C'mon. Would you have bought that? But the biggest surprise came when we met said superfan, Adam Aponte, at the send-off party Chang's threw for him (and as many members of the press as they could muster). He was completely serious. He really loves P.F. Chang's. As it turned out, what had really taken place was not an event of extreme marketing genius, but an event of extreme marketing luck — taken to shameless, tweet-filled measures, of course. But we can't blame you, P.F. Chang's marketing team, for taking advantage of a crazy fan and a new social-networking tool for publicity purposes. For, indeed, Mr. Aponte had written you an e-mail explaining his love and dedication to your mu shu chicken and lettuce wraps (which just happened to mention his upcoming road trip). And we have to admit you were really quite generous (in return for the continual tweets): At least you comped his meals!
