Olive Garden’s pasta passes are apparently no laughing matter. The pasta chain recently started selling more of the famed pieces of plastic (in honor of the 20th anniversary of its “Never Ending Pasta Bowl”) that give consumers the ability to get, well, endless pasta – for a price.
That is, if you had the chance to spend $100, you could have reaped the benefits of endless angel hair (or whatever the equivalent is) from October 5 to November 22 at 800 locations in the U.S. But there were just 1,000 sold. There were also family passes for $300 available.
Jose Duenas, the executive vice president of marketing, told the Associated Press: “We see it as a manifestation of Italian generosity.”
There is, however, a contest to win your very on pasta pass.
Last year, they sold out in just 45 minutes, prompting people to begin selling them on eBay. This year, there appears to be at least one being sold online.
But, of course, not everyone could get their hands on the cherished item. So, unsurprisingly, many took to Twitter to bash Olive Garden. Here are a few of those tweets.
This person coined a term for the debacle, #PastaGate:
https://twitter.com/AlexDruy/status/644583082473992192
There may have been some foul play involved, according to this customer:
Just so everyone is aware, the reason the #PastaPass sold out before the time was bc u could change the website countdown from 300-1…
— Blake Reeves (@Infamous_Blake) September 17, 2015
And this individual seemed to put it all into perspective.
https://twitter.com/jf100pre/status/644582216094384128
Olive Garden has been doing some damage control online, too.
@sarabear Unfortunately when passes are limited and the demand is that high, they can sell out that fast! http://t.co/Jk5TYbc0nE#PastaPass
— Olive Garden (@olivegarden) September 17, 2015
@LAKings78 No scam, just high demand! Don’t worry there’s still a chance to win a #PastaPass: http://t.co/kKTBpjGmMG
— Olive Garden (@olivegarden) September 17, 2015
In other fast food chain news, here’s what Burger King has in common with the United Nations. Hint: It has to do with burgers for peace.