Jack Astor’s Bar and Grill is introducing a holiday menu with a campaign that pokes fun at the lingo often found at fine-dining establishments.

“Jack’s Bougie Holiday Menu” features mushroom and gruyére cheese dip and BBQ meatloaf sliders as starter options, flat iron steak with habanero citrus shrimp and cacio e pepe cheese tortellini as options for main courses, and sticky toffee pudding for dessert.

“Jack’s often creates new menus for the holiday and summer seasons,” says Anesie Johnson, VP of marketing for SIR Corp. “We were excited about this particular holiday menu as it tested really well, with dishes over-delivering on likelihood to reorder and overall guest appeal. We let our guests be the decision-makers on their favourite items.”

The holiday menu and campaign were developed by The Garden.

“To introduce their new, elevated holiday menu, we needed to find a sweet spot in the middle of upscale and unpretentious,” says Lindsay Eady, creative director for The Garden. “We created the tongue-in-cheek ‘Bougie Holiday Menu’ campaign to poke a little fun at overly ‘fóncy’ holiday dinners, and invite guests to have a good time with a great new menu at Jack’s.”

The campaign itself features statements such as “Be a Haute Mess this Holiday,” “Eat Your á la Heart Out,” “Amuse the Hell Outta Your Bouche,” and “Get Your Gourmet On” – all overlaid on images of people eating, having a good time and exhibiting non-fine-dining behaviour.

“From tiny-portioned tasting menus, to confusing menu jargon, to stuffy servers judging you for ordering an IPA with your filet mignon – the holiday season is filled with fine-dining pretension,” Eady says.

The target demographic are guests aged 20 to 45, who often visit Jack’s with some friends after work, Johnson says.

“They’ve got tons of get-togethers planned, but haven’t figured out all the details of when and where, and it’s starting to feel more like a to-do rather than something to look forward to. Jack’s can become the spontaneous place to go with celebratory bevvies and an indulgent holiday inspired menu,” Johnson adds.

A mix of programmatic DOOH, programmatic display, search and social ads is being used to drive restaurant traffic and boost awareness in key markets. The campaign runs until Dec. 31.

Cairns Oneil handled media.