• by Todd Wasserman , July 29, 2022

Applebee’s is promoting Saucy Gloss, a collection of lip glosses containing the taste of wing sauce. Why? It just so happens that July 29 is both National Wing Day and National Lipstick Day.

So, the chain rolled out a music video entitled “Taste My Face.” The ad, via Grey, celebrates post-pandemic times. “These lips are out of lockdown and in-bound, so pucker up,” it begins. “I hope you like it spicy cause I’m hot-sauced glossed up.”

The idea is to encourage kissing now that it’s relatively safe to do so. The video presents women as the aggressors, as their men sit in Applebee’s booths awaiting their next move. The guys seem a little freaked out -- and as the moment of truth comes, they appear to be more drawn to the wings on the table than to the women in front of them.

The video ends with a shout-out to the actors and their Twitter handles