Times Staff Writer
The second annual Grouper Week marketing campaign is underway in Clearwater and St. Petersburg, and the tourism agency behind it intends to keep the promotion going for years to come.
"This thing has some legs," said David Downing, executive director of Visit St. Pete-Clearwater. "We've already knocked around deals for next year's campaign."
Last year's video, which featured men, women and children on the beach tearing into grouper sandwiches like a shark would a seal, had more than 1 million views, he said. It was also broadcast on Discovery Channel's Shark Week.
Previous coverage: Grouper Week spoof on Shark Week to promote Pinellas restaurants
Even before the promotion ended last year, Downing knew it was a success when he saw two unaffiliated restaurants advertising Grouper Week.
"This year we wanted to keep it viral, keep it edgy," he said.
The 2016 version features a dozen people fishing, doing yoga, skimboarding and taking selfies with the fish. There's even a Gary "Grouper" Busey appearance in the video, with a voiceover by the actor himself.
Visit St. Pete-Clearwater also released three videos that show people how to make Frenchy's grouper sandwich, RumFish Grill's Asian grouper tacos and FarmTable Kitchen's pan seared black grouper. Within 24 hours of going live, the videos had more than 100,000 views.
Beyond the online components, the agency rented a food truck and is going around town to pass out free grouper sliders to the public.
Grouper Week is the area's alternative to the typical restaurant week held in other cities.
Rather than coordinating specialty menus for local restaurants, GrouperWeek.com lists 50 different grouper recipes from Frenchy's, the Palm Pavilion, RumFish Grill, Stillwaters Tavern and more.
One of the agency's less expensive campaigns, Grouper Week is produced in-house and cost about $25,000, Downing said.
"We're trying to raise the profile of (the area) as a culinary destination," he said.
That's important, he added, because when people visit, they do not necessarily go to the Dali Museum or the Clearwater Marine Aquarium.
"The one thing they have to do is eat."
Contact Alli Knothe at aknothe@tampabay.com. Follow @KnotheA.