In-N-Out Burger’s Missed PR Opp
Did you hear about how In-N-Out Burger drew a lot of down-and-out job applicants recently? They opened a new store in Las Vegas and needed to fill about 50 positions. What happened? 1,000 people showed up to apply.
Wow.
If you get the stories from applicants, these aren’t your usual teenagers looking for a minimum wage type of job. They were people behind on their mortgages, people who had stable job histories. The average American down on their luck.
I’d love to ask how the experience went for the applicants but it’s a heart-wrenching story. It’s also an incredible PR opportunity for In-N-Out that I’m afraid they’ve missed (but could still do).
Eventually these people will probably be employed, and In-N-Out can leave a good taste in their mouth right now so they’ll come back to eat there.
Here’s what I think they should’ve done….
- Given each applicant a coupon for a free lunch.
- Call the media and get camera crews to cover the event. Perhaps a plea to other employers to consider some of these applicants or let them know if they’re hiring so In-N-Out can spread the word (perhaps gather email addresses and send out posts).
- Make it into a bigger story about this trend. The local news station could look like heroes. They could do a segment saying here are some candidates looking for a job right now. Perhaps focus on one a day at the end of the newscast.
- Send out a press release about what In-N-Out Burger is doing to help Americans find jobs or beat hunger. Spread the word on social media sites like Twitter, Facebook.
- Donate to an organization that provides food or helps people find jobs or build job skills. Spread the word.
- Put all of this on their blog or web site (it has a flash intro! They need OrangeSoda to help with SEO issues on their site).
I think they passed an incredible opportunity to look like heroes in a sad situation. What do you think?
2 Responses to “In-N-Out Burger’s Missed PR Opp”
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December 19th, 2008 at 9:32 am
I agree, that is an amazing PR opportunity. I think that if you’re a marketer you pick up on these oportunities…so the question is, who is In-and-Out employee in their marketing department that missed this?
December 19th, 2008 at 4:22 pm
So you are totally right about this. I have been wanting a pr job with in-n-out for years. I worked with them throughout high school and even a little in college. THis would have made a great story. They have had some pr issues in the past few years and they could use a boost. Also ps. they do give you a free coupon for a meal when they are opening a new store and you go in for an interview- I just don’t think they advertise it because then everyone would show up for just that. I’m glad I’m not the only one who blogs about in-n-out!