Ruby Tuesday fired a manager after he worked Christmas Day. A month later, the decision is still haunting them
It looks like Ruby Tuesday is falling behind on social media after the company made an alleged poor decision. During the holidays, they fired a manager who had worked at the company for 19 years. The decision was determined to be a fatal blunder, and now, the company is getting “ratio’ed” on all major platforms.
At least, TikToker Yost Malone (@yostmalone) thinks so, posting to his personal social media platform to echo what many people are thinking. Since Ruby Tuesday fired Jeff Cook (@jeffcook10), the company has been “finding out.” Yost Malone’s video itself has garnered 6.3 million views, outperforming pretty much anything that’s come from the company.
So, how bad is Ruby Tuesday really performing on social media?
Wait, what did Ruby Tuesday do?
An employee at a Ruby Tuesday in Big Rapids, Michigan, had worked every single day for 19 years. Then, the company fired him after a long and exhaustive Christmas Day shift. According to Cook, he managed to sell thousands of dollars of product during a particularly busy shift. But, upper managers were not happy with the fact that the employee shut down the location an hour early on Christmas Day. They fired Cook afterward.
Later, Cook received a number of referrals and job offers. Many commenters indicated that they would be cancelling Ruby Tuesday as a result of the franchise’s actions. Companies stated they would cancel catering orders with the franchise. Regular customers who spend their weekends at the restaurant stated they would take their business elsewhere. It effectively put the nail in the coffin for an already struggling business that’s been dying for some positive PR in recent years.
Ruby Tuesday did not respond to any follow-ups from The Mary Sue, nor did it seemingly take any action to address online criticism, further adding to the heat.
@yostmalone1 #rubytuesday #ratio ♬ original sound – Yost Malone ?
Ruby Tuesday’s TikTok—a flood of hate
In Yost Malone’s video, he stated, ”If you need a laugh in this horrible world, go to the Ruby Tuesday’s TikTok page…. Ruby Tuesday’s is now posting on TikTok and they’re getting ratio to death. So go to the comments. It’s hilarious. You’ll, you’ll definitely get a laugh.”
So, what are the comments like? Quick answer: They’re pretty funny. Surprisingly, Ruby Tuesday did not turn off the comments. New memes just let them keep coming in left and right, alongside scornful posts that shame the company unabashedly.
For instance, viewers were able to identify the man who fired Cook. “[Employee] fired a manager for not forcing his employees to work on Christmas day,” said one viewer. They posted a picture of the Ruby Tuesday higher-up alongside the comment.
Other comments simply stated that they were there to support Cook, adding, “Justice for Jeff,” in the comments section. Online, it seems like literally no one wants to enter Ruby Tuesday, especially given the fact that there are other widely established companies that offer holiday pay for employees.
Commenters also thought Ruby Tuesday’s posts were extremely off-putting and generally unprofessional, stating that the company must have hired its social media team. “Ruby’s is so broke they fired their social media team too,” said another viewer.
Despite the high view count for the video, it does seem as though Ruby Tuesday is getting “ratio’ed” by comments in support of Cook. The antagonism toward Blanchette particularly paints a picture of a complete cancellation that has not been duly corrected by the company.
Ruby Tuesday Inc. has made no public comment regarding the situation. We’ve reached out to Yost Malone, Ruby Tuesday Inc, and to Cook via email for comment.
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