Marketing

White Castle tasks Richard Dreyfuss with 'Night Before Cravemas' reading

Photo: iStock.

December 18, 2020

White Castle has released a spin on the "Night Before Christmas" in its digital storybook,"'Twas the Night Before Cravemas," set in a White Castle, of course, and read by Academy Award-winning actor Richard Dreyfuss. The digital poem hits the streets and drive-thrus today as a fundraiser for "Change is on the Menu" campaign to support restaurant workers during their COVID-era-inflicted challenges, a news release said.

The Castle's take on the classic story has St. Nicholas sneaking through a drive-thru window for some sliders, which Dreyfuss is professed to be a big fan of, according to the release.

"When I learned White Castle was doing something to help restaurant workers across the country, I wanted to be part of it," Dreyfuss said in the release. "The restaurant industry has been hit especially hard by the COVID-19 pandemic, and working with White Castle on this project is one way I can help some of the people who have experienced significant hardship this year."

More than 8 million U.S. restaurant workers have been laid off or lost their jobs since the start of the pandemic in March, according to the National Restaurant Association.

"We've been fortunate at White Castle because we've been able to keep our drive-thru open throughout the pandemic, and our dedicated team members and craver fans have really been there for us," Jamie Richardson, a White Castle vice president, said in the release. "Despite ongoing challenges, business results have started to stabilize for us. We know other restaurants aren't able to open and, consequently, thousands of restaurant employees have lost their jobs and suffered financially. We want to do what we can to help."

Viewing the digital story is free via Facebook, Instagram and YouTube, but donations are encouraged. White Castle will donate $1 per view up to $25,000 from this initiative.

White Castle has more than 360 restaurants nationally and its sliders are also available in most grocery stores' frozen foods departments.