MORE BREADSTICKS: Darden Restaurants Inc. says it plans to shift course and focus on promotional deals, while scaling back on its recent efforts to update the image of its Olive Garden and Red Lobster chains.

NUMBER CRUNCHING: The shift comes after the company reported a 37 percent drop in its fiscal second-quarter profit. Sales at restaurants open at least a year fell 3.2 percent at Olive Garden and 2.7 percent at Red Lobster.

SIDE DISH: The company also noted that it was affected by a publicity backlash from its test to limit workers' health care costs, ahead of new regulations in 2014 that will require big employers to provide health insurance to full-time employees.