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The good, the bad and the ugly about those food holidays

Hamburgers ... Pinot noir ... peanut butter-and-chocolate: What do they all have in common? They all have specific U.S. days of celebration when the brands that sell them work for free media and other event-based marketing. But do they work?

July 26, 2016 by S.A. Whitehead — Food Editor, Net World Media Group

Americans love their food and — even though we're always griping about it — the marketing that goes along with it. If you need any proof of that beyond the blanket of ads that cover every square foot of both real and virtual America, you need only go to that compendium of world knowledge, Wikipedia, under the listing for food days. That's where you can see how the U.S. compares to the rest of the world when it comes to quantity and variety of designated food holidays. 

Right there on the page, which appears to get updated daily, is the list of the world's food holidays, both globally and in about 16 individual countries, including the U.S. You'll soon notice something a little unusual about this country's listings compared with those for the planet as a whole, as well as each of the 16 nations that celebrate certain types food on specific days. 

You see it? We — as in the U.S. — are the only country that designates anything more than about 10 days a year to celebrations of individual foods. In fact, even worldwide there are only 20 designated food celebration days for the whole globe. And yet, here in the U.S.  just about every single day of the year has a food holiday associated with it. There is a food holiday designated for a day that only shows up every four years. February 29 — Leap Day — when it happens – is national Frog Legs Day.

It's little wonder then that food service chains and their marketers love these celebrations — almost to the point of needing a holiday to celebrate food holidays. That is simply because most food marketers see these very non-official days of celebration as great ways to promote their brands and products. 

"In today’s hyper-social and digital world, brands have become a ubiquitous part of people’s lives," Auntie Anne's Vice President of Marketing Carol Pasquariello said in an interview with QSRweb.com. "Event-based marketing tactics can be an effective way of breaking through the clutter, but only truly work when done in an organic way. At Auntie Anne’s, we don’t just 'manufacture' any old holiday in order to push our latest menu innovations. We aim to strategically leverage national days of celebration that are a natural fit — like National Pretzel Day."

At Carvel, where National Ice Cream Day is a hallowed event, President Scott Colwell approaches that particular food holiday a little differently than the other events that his brand celebrates.  

"Because of the social impact and the way (food holidays) enable us to take genuine 'ownership' of a day of the year, this is something that we would not be able to do as authentically with other events created by our own brand," he said in an interview with QSRweb.com.

A chance for free media?

Food holiday celebrations can lead to media coverage from news teams that might be dispatched to events to for the kind of lighter "story" that every news organization is compelled to sprinkle into their products to balance out the sometimes overwhelming weight of other more serious topics and tragedies. 

So, a press release or similar pitch to the local TV news department or newspaper has a chance for the brand to get  a nice 30- to 45-second mention during a primetime newscast or a photo in the newspaper's online and hard copy editions. In fact, if you ask food service marketers they'll tell you that reporters and news organizations love these opportunities. 

"The media is typically very interested in covering because it is interesting to their audience," said Colwell of the his brand's food day events. "Today’s shoppers are savvy and have the ability to find deals and freebies at the touch of their smartphone. Media love to cover these sort of events to give that information to their readers."

Pasqariello agreed wholeheartedly with that summation. 

"Food holidays are a great opportunity to secure earned placements," she said, referring to news coverage that is featured in a TV newscast or newspaper that is not paid for like other branded television spots. "The media — including large, national outlets — love covering these holidays, frequently highlighting promotions in round-ups. For National Pretzel Day, for example, we secured media placements around the country across all mediums (broadcast, online, print, social), allowing us to reach our loyal users, as well as new guests with whom we can begin to build lasting connections."

Cherryh Cansler, editorial director of this site's parent company, Net World Media Group, also said as both a veteran journalist and the director of editorial coverage for numerous web sites, she appreciates brands' various creative uses of food holidays to draw positive attention to their products. In fact, as editor of Fastcasual.com, Cansler said she believes food service industry leadership also likes to read about these initiatives. 

"I, for one, like them as niche food reporter," she said. "Our readers love to read those types of stories because they like to see what one another are doing. We get a lot of traffic from them."

The flip side of the story

Of course, though it's unlikely that anything negative would occur during news coverage of these events, it has happened. And since brands do not have any real control over editorial coverage, problems can develop in some circumstances. 

But more than that for brands considering this type of event as a venue to free media, it might also be helpful to know the way that most journalists view this type of story assignment. For instance, just read what a few editors we spoke with had to say about the subject. 

"Here are my responses: No! No! No! No!" said one longtime journalist. "Those made-up holidays are the worst and I don't consider them newsworthy at all."

Another journalist in the print news industry said simply, "In my view, I think the places that send out requests for coverage on these types of non-news events are asking for trouble because, as reporters, our objective is news and information. When we are sent to something that doesn't hold much promise of that, we still look for it anyway. I've known those who've been sent to these 'fluff' stories who then use the photos or video they get to cover a news story about a less-than-favorable aspect of that particular brand or restaurants, in general."

And finally, this from a journalist who spent many years in public relations before transitioning to reporting:

"Fortunately, I had a P.R. professor … who beat into us not to send fluff or press releases full of flowery language. …" he said. "I don't feel that they're newsworthy at all. I think it's clutter and everyone is trying to make the most noise about it. As a consumer, I simply tune out. It's info overload."

About S.A. Whitehead

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Pizza Marketplace and QSRweb editor Shelly Whitehead is a former newspaper and TV reporter with an affinity for telling stories about the people and innovative thinking behind great brands.