Olive Garden Mortified By Playboy Bunny's Endorsement

Hilary Lewis | Aug 13, 2008 1:52 PM

Thanks, but no thanks. Playboy bunny and star of E!'s The Girls Next Door, Kendra Wilkinson, is an outspoken supporter of the Olive Garden. One problem: she's not being paid, and they'd rather not have her endorsement.

WSJ: Kendra Wilkinson, a Playboy cover model, television star and one of Hugh Hefner's three live-in girlfriends, professes deep love for the Olive Garden Italian restaurant chain.

The feeling isn't mutual.

To the consternation of Olive Garden's marketers, who have spent millions crafting the franchise's family-friendly image, the 23-year-old adult-entertainment star and aspiring real-estate mogul repeatedly uses her spotlight to rave about its midprice eateries. Ms. Wilkinson hoists Olive Garden doggie bags in the air and extols its chicken parmigiana. She once scandalized European diners by declaring the Olive Garden preferable to any restaurants in Italy...

Earlier this year, buoyed by her starring role on "The Girls Next Door," a highly rated reality show that follows the lives of Mr. Hefner's girlfriends, Ms. Wilkinson launched a modeling competition for attractive Olive Garden waitresses. The prize: a nude Playboy pictorial. Ms. Wilkinson took the contestants' photographs herself..

Starbucks is also subject to "rogue" endorsements from celebs photographed carrying their coffee cups in magazines. And in 2003 Playboy ran a similar "Women of Starbucks," spread. And look how the coffee chain is doing now!