Expense-a-Steak App Takes the Recession Out of Lunchtime

Boutique Shop Walrus Helps Maloney & Porcelli's -- and You -- Rescue the Corporate Economy

Posted by Bob Garfield on 10.05.09

Is it advertising?

Is it PR? Is it digital marketing? Is it guerilla marketing? Is it aiding and abetting in fraud?

Dunno for sure. But we are certain of this: The Expense-a-Steak Headquarters stunt from Walrus, New York, for midtown restaurant Maloney & Porcelli's is one of the cleverest ideas we have seen in 24 years of AdReview-ing.

Title: Expense-a-Steak
Marketer: Maloney & Porcelli
stars

Agency: Walrus, New York

Accounting doesn't ask why you've bought $700 worth of anti-static floor mats and toner? That's their problem.

Let us just restate that, in case we weren't entirely clear: We LOVE this thing. It is brilliant. It is charming. It is hilarious. In short, it is brothermucking genius.

Here's the context: The economy has been a bit on the soft side, putting a great deal of pressure on certain industries: the banking industry, the media industry, the brokerage industry, the advertising industry and, in a poignant example of collateral damage, the $108 steak 'n' fries-for-two industry.

Even if the president of the United States had not upbraided corporate America for its piggish, profligate culture, every finance department (except probably Condé Nast's) has made this abundantly clear: Until further notice, the gravy train is parked on a siding. First class is now coach. Coach is now teleconference. Town cars are now the 4,5,6 trains. And lunch is from the hotdog cart.

Want to upgrade to the half-smoke? Go crazy, because the company's not paying.

So imagine the impact on the poor restaurateurs who for so long have heroically provided the lavish expense-account meals for fat cats -- those $700 table-for-four tabs with wine, cocktails and tip -- knowing that only about $200 of the bill was picked up by federal taxpayers. They've been devastated -- Maloney & Porcelli's no less than any.

If a $29 caramelized-sea-scallop appetizer falls on a white tablecloth and there is no one there to pay for it, does it make a profit?

Enter the boutique agency Walrus on a two-fold mission: 1) to increase traffic for its client 2) to generate awareness for the tragedy of corporate retrenchment.

The obvious thing on the second half of the brief, of course, would be an ink-red ribbon, but that has so been done by lesser causes, such as abducted children and cancer. No, this problem called for more than a mere gesture. It called for a solution. Namely: the Expense-a-Steak fake-receipt generator.

Go to expenseasteak.com and fill in the obscenely large amount of your Maloney & Porcelli meal. Out will come a PDF of receipts for exactly that amount -- innocuous (and extremely realistic) proof of purchases for taxis, panini lunches, office supplies, business books and so on. Accounting doesn't ask why you've bought $700 worth of anti-static floor mats and toner? That's their problem.

Walrus also printed up camouflage doggie bags, so when you carry home a $180 leftover, you can do it in a Sbarro sack. (Until a couple of days ago, you could also choose Olive Garden or Chipotle sacks, but those chains sent along a cease-and-desist order on the grounds of unbelievably brazen trademark infringement. Sheesh, has nobody a sense of humor anymore?)

All right, granted, the 61,000 phony receipts downloaded over the first four days might suggest the stunt is actually being slightly "abused" for a touch of "fraud" by a few tens of thousands of bad-apple "thieves." But, c'mon. Expense-a-Steak apps don't defraud corporations. People defraud corporations. In the meantime, Maloney & Porcelli is suddenly on the lips of those who hitherto could remember only Smith & Wollensky, preempting its major competitor into a corner. Because how to top expenseasteak.com?

Alas, callgirl.com is already spoken for.

9 Comments

By rcsulli33 | Mobile, AL October 5, 2009 09:08:50 am:

Brilliant.

Rich Sullivan
Red Square Agency
http://twitter.com/redsquareagency

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By Caroline | Charleston, SC October 5, 2009 09:57:51 am:

This is so great because it does what so many branded apps DON'T do...which is ensure the app has (1) usability and (2) relevance. So many companies are hopping on the "I want an app!" train, but producing either apps that don't make sense with their brands, or apps that you'll use once and never pick up again. This could fall into the latter for those who pick it up and laugh over the novelty, but my hunch is there are enough sneaky devils who will try to get away with it. Regardless, it certainly makes people think fondly on the good ole shmooze lunch, which is the point.

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By craigcooper | craigcooper.com, NY October 5, 2009 12:30:43 pm:

Genius.

But how do people find out about it in the first place, short of reading Garfield?

(The Bob, not the cartoon cat.)

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By Curvin | SaratogaSprings, NY October 5, 2009 01:59:58 pm:

Clever. But not great, brilliant or genius. Certainly not a brand builder.

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By PATRICK | ATLANTA, GA October 5, 2009 02:14:20 pm:

As if the brilliance of the idea weren't enough, how about a fake receipt for books entitled "SUNDAY IS THE NEW MONDAY AND OTHER TIPS FOR GIVING 111% AT WORK" and "BOARDROOM BLISS: THE SECRET TO BECOMING THE IDEAL EMPLOYEE"?!
Brothermucking genius, indeed.
http://www.thelintscreen.com

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By Caroline | Charleston, SC October 5, 2009 03:14:24 pm:

What's also nice to see is that they are not cheapening their product with just pushing "value" or discounts. They're standing behind who they are and celebrating being expensive...just helping us justify it.

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By scriv38 | Glendale, CA October 5, 2009 06:37:08 pm:

What's more is that I imagine my company AMEX and expense account work like many other companies: the receipts must match the internal expense report as well as my monthly AMEX statement. One dollar off and I have the dreaded finance and payroll monsters breathing fire down my neck, sending out missive fraud accusations via email, twitter and facebook, cc'ing my supervisor, all senior management, the CFO and CEO. I cant imagaine anyone working for a legit company these days actually getting away with this, so let's all take it for what it's worth -- a brilliant idea to get some much needed attention for a business feeling the pain from the recession and sea change shift in attitudes towards indulgence on the company dime. I for one miss them already....

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By spowers8 | Mechanicsville, VA October 7, 2009 02:08:16 pm:

I love a good idea.

Seth Powers
RightMinds
http://www.twitter.com/rightminds

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By TPantello | Lima, OH October 10, 2009 12:30:29 am:

I am a recent college graduate and have yet to turn in one expense report (partly because I am self-employed :)

Call me naive and inexperienced, but there has to be a more compelling way for Maloney & Porcelli's to build its brand image. Unless I am missing something here, the brand statement this app makes is this: "We can help you defraud your company so you can eat our steak." While I realize that this app is creative in that it generates traffic and empathizes with business people who are experiencing corporate retrenchment, I don't think it communicates a positive brand message.

I'm really not sure if this app is just a publicity stunt or whether Maloney & Porcelli's is actually serious about helping individuals defraud their companies. Like Mr. Garfield said, people, not expense-a-steak apps, defraud companies. But if Maloney & Porcelli's is serious with this app and wishes to help its customers lie to their accounting departments, what guarantees that they will run their own business with a contradicting high standard of honesty and integrity? Do I really want to do business with or be associated with an organization who has a serious intent to help individuals defraud their employers? And further, regardless of the expense-a steak app's intent, every brand message and contact point (whether serious or not) has the opportunity to improve or detract from the brand image. In this case, I think it's the latter.

Perhaps my dislike of this app is rooted in something deeper than poor brand strategy. After all, people, not expense-a-steak apps, defraud. Maloney & Porcelli's is apparently recognizing a popular sentiment among many business professionals who believe they're justified in lying on their expense reports just because their employers are limiting the amenities they are accustom to. I have friends who have been forced to drop out of school, have lost their jobs, and are struggling to keep their household and family financially afloat, but yet they don't use the economy as justification to lie to associated financial parties and institutions. So yes, I realize that these economic times are forcing businesses to cut back and employees are "suffering" as a result. But forgive me if I don't empathize that your steak eating, first class flying, town car riding luxuries are few and far between.

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