News

QSRs launch summer menu, contest promotions

July 6, 2010

A number of quick-service brands, including a variety of regional concepts, have launched new promotions and products for the summer. Some are leveraging trending flavor profiles or ingredients, while others are using social media or in-store campaigns to attract consumers' attention as spending remains tight.

Here's a rundown:

Chick-fil-A is bringing back its popular Cow Appreciation Day free meal offer. Now in its 6th year, the July 9 event offers consumers dressed fully as a cow a free Chick-fil-A meal — an entrée, side item and beverage of their choosing — that day. Guests featuring only partial cow attire will receive a complimentary entree.

The annual Cow Appreciation Day honors the chain's "Eat Mor Chikin" Cow mascots. The event includes a social media component in which adults can participate in a photo contest hosted on the Chick-fil-A Facebook page. A second photo contest for kids 10 and under called Show Us the Cow is available at www.showusthecow.com.

Both contests will award free Chick-fil-A products for a year to the best cow-dressed customers, and children will also have the opportunity to win a $1,000 U.S. Series EE Savings Bond and a digital camera through the "Show Us the Cow" photo contest.

Great American Cookies 5 Combos for $5

Mall-based brand Great American Cookies is tapping into the popular $5 price point with a series of new combo deals. The 5 Combos for $5 Each offer, available now at participating Great American Cookies stores nationwide, allows customers to mix and match their favorite flavors for just $5. The celebration is supported by NexCen Franchise Management Inc., a subsidiary of NexCen Brands Inc.

Combos offered during the celebration include:

• Combo No. 1: Three cookies and regular drink
• Combo No. 2: Two brownies and regular drink
• Combo No. 3: Six Big Bites and regular drink
• Combo No. 4: Two Double Doozie Big Bites and regular drink
• Combo No. 5: Four Big Bites and two small drinks

Great American Cookies also has launched a new "Buy 5, Get 1 Free" program. The loyalty club program offers customer the opportunity to pick up a special Combo Bonus Card at participating locations and present their card when ordering a featured combo. Once five combos have been purchased, the customer is eligible for a free combo of their choice.

Wienerschnitzel National Hot Dog Month promos burgers

Leading hot dog chain Wienerschnitzel is thinking outside the box with its promotion celebrating National Hot Dog Month. Instead of promoting its hot dogs, the chain is honoring its new burgers, the Double Chili Cheeseburger and the Double Ultimate Chili Cheeseburger.

Why would the nation’s largest hot dog chain celebrate National Hot Dog Month with Double Chili Cheeseburgers? "While Wienerschnitzel is famous for its hot dogs, we want hot dog lovers to know that we make one heck of a Double Chili Cheeseburger," said Tom Amberger, vice president of marketing for Wienerschnitzel, in a news release. "Our proprietary, world-famous chili is our most popular topping, and makes our hot dogs, fries and yes — burgers — even more craveable."

The new burgers feature Wienerschnitzel's signature chili recipe as well as two of the chain's home-style beef patties. The Double Chili Cheeseburger offers two patties and two slices of cheese topped with Wienerschnitzel’s signature chili for $2.29. The Double Ultimate Chili Cheeseburger combines the flavors with extra toppings of tomato, pickle chips, mustard and chopped onion for $ 2.59. Prices may vary slightly by location.

Honey Dew Donuts sweepstakes

Regional donut chain Honey Dew Donuts, the largest locally owned coffee and donut shop chain in New England, has kicked off its Dew Days of Summer Instant Win Game and Sweepstakes.

Now through Aug. 31, the chain offers customers a chance to win a grand prize of $10,000 as well as a variety of other prizes and discounts. The sweepstakes features more than $100,000 in prizes, including Nintendo Wii game consoles with Wii Sports game, gas gift cards, grocery gift cards, $50 checks, and free iced coffees, iced teas, and donuts at participating Honey Dew Donuts shops.

A game piece is attached to each medium or large iced beverage cup. Game pieces include instant-win prizes or food offers as well as a game featuring letters needed to spell "summer." Customers that spell "summer" can submit their game pieces for a chance to win $10,000 in the sweepstakes.

Cool shakes at Gold Star Chili

Cincinnati-based chili chain Gold Star Chili has released a new line of milkshakes. The new 20-ounce milkshakes are made with real, premium hand-blended ice cream and available in three classic flavors: chocolate, vanilla and strawberry. The new milkshakes will be available at all participating Gold Star Chili restaurants for $2.99 each with whipped cream topping included.

Gold Star will be marketing the shakes as a “triple threat” — a beverage, dessert or a mid-afternoon snack. “We’ve lacked an appropriate menu item to take advantage of the growing mid-afternoon snacking day-part and shakes help us fill this niche nicely,” said Gold Star Chili director of marketing Charlie Howard.

The multichannel marketing campaign will include more lifestyle, demographically focused and dayparted social media as well as online advertising initiatives to drive traffic for afternoon snacking. The promotion also includes a frequency program and YouTube video contest.
The introduction will also be supported in traditional media with an eight-week radio and outdoor campaign.

These new milkshakes will be part of Gold Star Chili’s permanent menu, and the regional chili chain will introduce new seasonal flavors as limited time offers throughout the year. Next up, Orangesicle shakes to tie into Gold Star Chili’s sponsorship of local NFL team the Cincinnati Bengals and the restaurant chain’s status as Official Chili of the Cincinnati Bengals.

The YouTube video contest invites fans to create a video that shows off their best dance moves while celebrating the marriage of hot, spicy Cincinnati-style chili and cool, creamy milk shakes. Contest prizes include a Flip Camera, Gold Star Chili gift card and free Milk Shakes for a year

The contest runs through Aug. 31. To enter, fans can visit Gold Star Chili’s Facebook. Or, visit the contest site.

Gold Star Chili encourages contestants to use the original music created for the contest, Everybody Loves a Milk Shake Mp3, as well as Gold Star Chili Milk Shake cups in the video. Videos should be 5 seconds to 2 minutes in length.

The four prize categories include:

• Best On Location (at a Gold Star Chili restaurant)
• Best Use of Kids or Pet
• Best Shaking Action
• Best Use of Whipped Cream

Promotion of the "Everybody Loves a Milk Shake" Contest will be exclusively via social and digital media: Twitter, posts on the restaurant’s various Facebook pages, advertisements on Facebook via a Wildfire app, e-mail marketing and the always anticipated but seldom achieved viral YouTube phenomenon.

A&W Restaurants adds toasted bacon offerings

A&W Restaurants has launched two new limited-time only sandwiches leveraging the bacon and toasted sandwich trend. The new offerings include:

• Texas Toast Chicken BLT, featuring a fried chicken patty, bacon, lettuce, tomato and mayonnaise
• Texas Toast BLT, featuring freshly prepared hickory smoked bacon, lettuce, tomato and mayonnaise

The company website and e-mail promotion do not include a suggested retail price.

A&W follows Checkers/Rally's in offering a sandwich that features bacon as the only meat. Checkers/Rally's featured a line of toasted sourdough sandwiches earlier this summer as part of a 2 for $3 promotion, including a Toasted BLT.

A&W Restaurants also is featuring an LTO dessert, a new premium Turtle Sundae, with whole pecans, hot fudge, hot caramel, whipped cream and a cherry atop a cup of soft serve vanilla ice cream.