Brilliant marketing idea

From FOX News:

Planning a night out? Olive Garden will pay your baby-sitting tab
Either Olive Garden really loves parents or really hates kids, because on Feb. 7 the casual Italian dining chain will be dishing out free baby-sitting for any parents who dine at one of its participating locations across the country.

In an interesting promotional pairing, the chain, owned by Orlando-based Darden Restaurants, has teamed up with My Gym, a chain of children's activity centers.

Before dining at Olive Garden, parents can drop off their kids at any one of 145 participating My Gym locations and return with their Olive Garden receipt to have their baby-sitting tab covered.

The one-night only special, called Parents� Night Out, will run from 6 to 9 p.m. but could vary by location, and will promote the chain�s two-for $25 dinner menu. Although, a spokeswoman told the Orlando Sentinel that diners are welcome to try out other menu items also.

"With busy family schedules and everyone always on the go, it's challenging for parents to find time for a date night out," Jay Spenchian, executive vice president of marketing for Olive Garden said in a release.

Very clever idea -- they probably negotiated a killer price from My Gym because dinner time would normally be slow for them. Win/win...