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Panda Express celebrates Chinese New Year with guest-driven campaign

Panda Express is celebrating the 2016 Chinese New Year by educating consumers about the tradition with an interactive website, CelebrateCNY.com.

January 28, 2016

Panda Express is celebrating the 2016 Chinese New Year by educating consumers about the tradition with an interactive website, CelebrateCNY.com, featuring an animated video about the 15-day festival, activities for kids and special classroom curriculum for teachers.

To date, more than 6 million students have learned about Chinese New Year through Panda’s educational materials, according to a company press release.

Known as the Year of the Monkey, Feb. 8 marks the first day of the Chinese New Year and Panda’s "Celebrate Togetherness" campaign honors the history and traditions long observed within the Chinese culture, said Peggy Cherng, co-chair and co-CEO of Panda Express.

"Chinese New Year is a celebration of family togetherness, delicious food and good fortune — values in which everyone can relate," she said. “As a family owned company, this holiday represents our cultural roots and reflects a major part of our company’s brand identity. Our Panda family looks forward to this yearly celebration as an opportunity to share our rich traditions and heritage with our guests."

Panda’s new site also features an app that helps visitors send New Year's greetings through virtual red envelopes, a guide to help guests find their Chinese zodiac signs and information on special in-store offers for Feb. 8. 

With more than 1,900 restaurant locations around the world, Panda Express is planning one of the largest Chinese New Year celebrations in the world. Special traditions returning to Panda Express include:

• Firecracker Chicken: Available now for a limited time, Panda’s Firecracker Chicken is a celebratory dish symbolizing the fireworks believed to ward off bad luck in Chinese culture
• Free Gold Bar: All guests can receive a coupon for a free Gold Bar (Chicken Egg Roll), a traditional dish and Chinese symbol for wealth, that can be downloaded at CelebrateCNY.com or sent to friends via a virtual red envelope and redeemed on Feb. 8
• Red Envelope: Red envelopes are given to loved ones with a gift tucked inside to symbolize good luck for the New Year. Guests who visit any Panda Express on Feb. 8 will receive a red envelope containing a coupon for a free Firecracker Chicken entree and a drink redeemable during a future visit

In addition, Panda Express has partnered with ABC’s "Fresh Off the Boat" to raise awareness of Chinese New Year and encourage viewers and guests alike to join the celebration, according to the release. Panda Express restaurants across the country will display specially branded "Fresh Off the Boat" Chinese New Year posters and table tents featuring the Huangs. To see how the Huang family celebrates Chinese New Year, viewers can watch "Fresh Off the Boat" when it returns with an all-new episode on Feb. 2.