Lebron, Fred Hoiberg, and I walk into an Applebee's

To celebrate my birthday, a gaggle of coworkers and I went out for lunch. As is tradition, the birthday celebrant was tasked with choosing where to dine, and as far as I could see there was only one choice; Applebee's. Over the last few months Applebee's has been using Fred Hoiberg's "The Mayor" celebrity to sell hamburgers and raise money for the United Way of Story County, and as mandated by law the burger has the perfect pun name; the Hoiburger™. 
So we hop in our cars, make our way to the local AppleBee's and as fate would have it I end up sitting below a sign selling the very sandwich I specifically came to consume. Being a big goober, as soon as my Hoiburger™ arrived I saw it as my civic duty to snap a picture with sign, mimicking Fred's pose. Kissed by serendipity, I instagram my picture –including The Mayor's Twitter handle– and prepare myself to eat my half pound of chuck topped with sliced ham, american cheese, lettuce, tomato, pickles and onion with a side of fires AND onion rings. 

One bite in to my sandwich, I know I made the right decision just as The Mayor knew he was right to recruit transfers DeAndre Kane, Royce White, and Chris Allen after their first games. During my second bite, my phone vibrates. Undoubtedly one of my friends finds my Instagram post funny, nope! It's Applebee's! The national Applebee's instagram comments on my picture, favorites my tweet, retweets, and replies.


The whole lunch crew has a chuckle that Applebee's replied and liked my goofstagram, but something about the reply is really weird. Why did Applebee's include @LebronJames? I wasn't eating a Lebronger™. We all have a great big laugh at Applebee's misTweet, and I re-up on Twitter.

We're all joking that Applebee's corporate is celebrating the free publicity its getting out of some dude eating lunch with Lebron James in one of its restaurants. I mean, my original Instagram post clearly said I was eating with @ISUMayor32 not @LebronJames. What's worse, @LebronJames is a parody account, not even the verified @KingJames account. What is going on over in the Applebee's Twittersphere.

Of course a couple minutes into our ragfest on everybody's favorite Cyclone supporting national chain, one of the lunchees notices that my initial tweet (as in the one that was transformed from an Instagram post into a Twitter post) actually includes @LebronJames instead of @ISUMayor32. What the heck is going on?


Somehow Twitter transformed my InstaLunch with @ISUMayor32 to a TweetLunch with the best basketball player on the planet. As a huge basketball fan and a technophile –"The LeBrappleBurger Situation," as one coworker dubbed it– is hilarious on multiple levels. 

In the end, my faux-lunch with basketball's elite went global and I'd like to believe Applebee's eventually figured out the situation. Although their final reply aped a coach Rhoads catchphrase, not Hoiberg.


From the delicious burger, to the goofy picture, to the social technology hiccup I don't think this lunch could have been any more memorable. I can only hope both Lebron James and Fred Hoiberg spent a moment or two staring at their phones today wondering "Who the heck is @PatBoBomb and why does @Applebee's think I'm eating lunch with him?"

Now, as is my right as a Cyclone alum. There is only one way to properly close out this post. Fred Hoiberg dancing. Cheers.

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