• by Nina Lentini  @Nina_Lentini, July 31, 2008

On Tuesday, the Ruby Tuesday restaurant chain will blow up an undisclosed eatery live on the Internet to signal the completion of a relaunch of its menu and décor. 

That restaurant is the last remaining "old-style site," the company says. An online ticker is counting down to the 3 p.m. EDT detonation.

Starting today, newspaper, TV and online advertising will direct viewers to RubyTuesday.com. A bomb-shaped newspaper "manifesto" describes some of the coming changes ("Gone are the ... brass, the ferns and, yes, even the tchotchkes"). Two :15 TV teasers depict a restaurant executive taking a sledgehammer to one of the chain's old Tiffany lamps. And multiple online banners hint at the coming blast: "Two words. Ka. Boom."

Media will consist of full-page, national newspaper, national cable TV, and Web sites including people.com, MSNGames.com, myspace.com, etc. There will also be Internet videos.

After the blast, :30 and :15 TV spots will introduce a new spokesman, described as "slightly over-enthusiastic" in his efforts to help people adapt to change of all kinds--including, of course, the radical changes at Ruby Tuesday.

The menu is being overhauled from "bar & grill" to "simple, fresh, American dining," a phrase the company has incorporated into its boilerplate.

The advertising and event marketing campaign, tagged "It's a brand new Tuesday," is the first work by advertising agency BooneOakley, Charlotte, N.C., for its new client.

Says David Oakley, creative director, about the reason for the relaunch: "Everyone knows the fast casual category is going through a rough patch. Bennigan's just filed for bankruptcy.

"Ruby Tuesday started a year ago on a total refocusing. In a way, they saw that the whole category was overdue for some freshening up. More specifically, they knew they had to stand apart from all the run-of-the-mill fast-casual chains."

Ruby Tuesday has restaurants in 45 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, and 13 foreign countries.