Darden’s announcement about buying the parent company of Ruth’s Chris Steak House is a typical acquisition press release. The news is good for Darden, prompting in a 10% stock jump. With unnecessarily large type and an exceedingly long first sentence, the statement describes the news and the value of the restaurant chain to the company. Standard quotes are included from both CEOs.

Because Darden is less well known, mainstream news articles include the more recognizable “Olive Garden” in headlines. For example, CNBC posts, “Olive Garden owner Darden Restaurants buys Ruth’s Chris Steak House for $715 million,” and The Wall Street Journal posts, “Olive Garden Owner to Buy Ruth’s Hospitality Group.” Yet, appropriately, Olive Garden’s website includes no announcement.

Ruth’s Chris’s website also includes no announcement, which makes sense because it’s a consumer-focused site and Darden is acquiring the entire company. The parent company, Ruth’s Hospitality Group, which includes only the one brand, includes a short statement that mirrors Darden’s.

Students can explore Ruth’s March 2023 deck as a related communication example. The deck follows principles we teach for creating decks, particularly balancing text and graphics and using clear, descriptive message titles (although they are not all parallel).

Image source.