Utah Restaurant Packs Guns, Business Booms


Utah restaurant, Sea Bears Ogden Fish House, is getting a lot of publicity recently for their pro-gun stance. Along with fish and chips, there is some heat. The owner, cook, and servers all openly carry and many are family members. There are guns tucked into their kilts.

Utah restaurants packs guns with their kilts

Six months ago, the 2nd amendment loving owner, Tony Siebers wanted to show his love of the 2nd Amendment.  His decision to open carry which is legal in Utah created a lot of controversy. I saw them on Channel 2 News last night, they were picked up by another TV station, The Standard Examiner newspaper, and I heard them on KSL Radio this morning.

I stopped by on my way to work today. It's Tuesday at about 1pm and they are too busy for an interview. This is the type of business that they usually see on weekends. This is the entrance – almost every table is full.

Ogden restaurant gets media coverage

Unfortunately, polarizing works very well as a way to get publicity. Want to get in the news? Make something that makes people talk. It doesn't even need to be real, apparently…this company built a fake app, got a lot of coverage on it (check out the story on Medium) and landed some six figure contracts. Dubious? I think so. But effective? No one can argue with that.

Nowadays, potential clients care more about the name on the door than the agency’s portfolio. In order to survive, new agencies need to be heavily differentiated with unique voices.

Donald Trump does this very well (even though the skills to get publicity may not be the same skills needed to effectively lead a country). Even in Facebook advertising, it's ideal to create an offer that only your target market would be interested in so you only pay for downloads or registrations from potential customers. Everyone else will just move along.

Will the Publicity Backfire?

When a business takes a strong stand or pulls a publicity stunt, it creates a lot of conversations. In this case, it obviously helped the restaurant bring in more customers. People who are pro gun will go there just because of the guns. If you look at their Facebook page there isn't a mention about all the news stories (missed opportunity), but there are a few comments from customers who saw them on the news and pledge support.

Ogden Sea Bears Restaurant Facebook

I always look at Chick-fil-A and their anti-gay marriage stance. It helped them short term but long term, the polarization hurt. In an interview last year with USAToday the CEO said they were backing away from getting political. “While Cathy's comments didn't hurt short-term business — and even helped it — Chick-fil-A executives recognize that the comments may have done longer-term damage to the brand's image.”

On a national level, Chick-fil-A decided not to continue to voice their opinions and focus on their product.

Does the same hold true for a small local business? Do these stances hurt long-term or help? I tried to find out by asking I Love Drilling Juice and Smoothie Bar in Vernal, Utah. I wrote about them 3 years ago, after they made national news for charging liberals $1 more on their orders. Wait, didn't liberals invent juicing and smoothies? I don't know any hippies who aren't liberal.

The end of the story? The business was listed for sale for $6,000 on their Facebook page and reported sold one day later. I couldn't reach them (no answer when I called) to find out if they still charge liberals more.  However, their name has been changed to Smooth Drilling.

My last example comes from an ice cream shop, Farr's Fresh in South Ogden, Utah. They got publicity for promoting guns after they ran a gun giveaway on Facebook several years ago. I haven't seen anything else on their Facebook page, so I assume it's business as usual.

Polarizing can be very effective (get more visibility and bring more business), especially short-term. For bigger brands or businesses it can cut you off from potential customers and you may have to back away from the issues. For smaller businesses with one location or just a few it may be a risk worth taking.

For Sea Bears if they're going to get this much publicity, they ought to learn from I Love Drilling Juice and Smoothie Bar and fan this fire. I would put up links and comments about every news story. I'd post photos and highlight the crowds, thanking people for their support. I'd keep playing up the pro-gun stance with promotions and campaigns.

Looking for Liberal Examples

My only question is, where are the liberal examples? I've got plenty from the right (probably because I live in Utah). What publicity stunts have you seen from the left? Also, do you think this is a smart move for a local business?

View at Medium.com


3 Comments
  1. Luis Miguel March 17, 2016
  2. Janet Thaeler March 17, 2016
  3. Luis Miguel March 18, 2016

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