Outback's Facebook fan base Bloomin'

If you want to win friends and influence people, as the iconic book says, give them a Bloomin' Onion.

OSI Restaurant Partners, the Tampa-based owner of Outback Steakhouse, Carrabba's Italian Grill and other restaurant brands, appears to have scored with a new promotion on the Facebook social media Web site.

On Nov. 5, the company began giving away coupons for a Bloomin' Onion appetizer to the first 500,000 people signing up as fans on Outback's Facebook page. To claim the free appetizer, people need to buy one entree. Normally, customers pay $6.25 for a Bloomin' Onion, according to Outback's menu.

The offer apparently has done the trick. More than 300,000 people have signed up as Outback fans on Facebook, Outback Chief Marketing Officer Dan Dillon said in an e-mail Monday. Inside Facebook, a California-based blog that tracks traffic on Facebook, ranks Outback's page as one of the top gainers of fans this week.

The steakhouse chain's Facebook page gained 212,396 fans during the week, putting it in eighth place in a ranking of sites gaining the most fans, according to a ranking on Inside Facebook's blog page Monday. The top gainer of the week has been the Monster Energy drink Facebook page, which gained 443,926 fans.

Inside Facebook's blog doesn't mention Monster Energy or why it is in the lead, but a quick search of its Facebook page shows Monster Energy, too, has been giving away lots of freebies lately, including hats and shirts. Other consumer product companies that recently have given away items through Facebook include Papa John's, T.G.I. Friday's and Texas Pete Hot Sauce, Inside Facebook says. As with Outback, their offers often require patrons to buy an item when redeeming a coupon.

In a short statement, Dillon, the Outback marketing officer, didn't say how many people are redeeming the Bloomin' Onion coupons or whether the promotion is boosting Outback's sales.

However, he did say, "We're excited by the positive response and looking forward to engaging with our fans on the Outback fan page in the future."