• by Karlene Lukovitz  @KLmarketdaily, February 9, 2017

Showing once again that big-budget, national brands don’t have a lock on inventive advertising, Cincinnati-based pizza chain LaRosa’s is playing off the “fake news” furor in a low-budget campaign to introduce its new catering services.

The privately held chain, which has 64 locations in Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee, is using 10 paid posts that appear to be Facebook newsfeeds or news-related Twitter items.

The promoted posts, from the Brunner agency (Pittsburgh), are designed to grab attention with funny, obviously fake local news headlines and accompanying photos.  

Headlines include “Potluck Fails When Every Guest Brings Lime Jello Salad,” “Local Mediators Look to Head Off JV Football Banquet Crisis” and “Area Couple Tries to Entertain Friends With Bag of Chips.”

All of the ads are taglined: “Have you heard the news? LaRosa’s caters,” and link to larosas.com/catering.

The election showed that fake news is a “powerful attention-grabber,” notes Brunner group account director Patrick Culhane. “So instead of making up political scandals, we made up catering blunders.” The exaggerated headlines and “cheesy stock photography” ensure that no one could mistake the ads for news — even the fake variety, he adds.