June 18, 2013

Industry News | July 9, 2012

Chick-fil-A Offers Free Meals to Cow-Clad Customers July 13

If you're planning to steer clear of black cats and sidewalk cracks on Friday the 13th, why not change your luck by dressing as a cow instead? On Friday, July 13, Chick-fil-A restaurants nationwide will celebrate its annual Cow Appreciation Day event by offering a free meal to any customer who visits one of the chain's mall or stand-alone restaurants fully dressed as a cow.

Customers dressed head to hoof in cow attire will be rewarded with a free Chick-fil-A Meal (breakfast, lunch, or dinner), which includes an entree of choice, a side item, and a Diet Dr Pepper (or other beverage choice). 

For those too chicken to wear full cow costumes, Chick-fil-A will award a complimentary entree to customers partially dressed in cow attire, such as a cow-spotted scarf, purse, hat or other accessory.

Chick-fil-A also has a special website dedicated to the occasion, www.CowAppreciationDay.com, which launched June 18. In addition to providing further details about the event, the site offers cow costume ideas, as well as downloadable cow spots, masks, and other bovine-themed accessories for customers to use to create their costumes.

Chick-fil-A is also organizing a photo contest that will be co-hosted on the Cow Appreciation Day site and the chain's Facebook page. The best cow-dressed customers can submit a photo in one of three categories: Best Calf/Calves, Best Cow, and Best Herd. Prizes include Chick-fil-A Cow beach towels, gift cards, and catered parties. Customers can upload photos for the contest from July 13-31.

Now in its eighth year, Chick-fil-A's Cow Appreciation Day continues to build momentum. Last year's event and the resulting turnout confirmed that Chick-fil-A has a strong following of customers willing to go to great lengths to show their appreciation for cows. 

Nearly 600,000 cow-clad customers stampeded Chick-fil-A restaurants across the country. Costumes ranged from simple cow-spotted t-shirts to full cow suits complete with furry ears, cow bells, and homemade sandwich boards with personalized renditions of the "Eat Mor Chikin" Cows' quirky messages.

"Cow Appreciation Day certainly demonstrates just how passionate our customers are," says Steve Robinson, Chick-fil-A's chief marketing officer. "If you're willing to dress up like a cow for a free meal, you're obviously a loyal and even raving Chick-fil-A fan. While the event is a natural tie with our cow-themed marketing campaign, Cow Appreciation Day is intended to be a fun day to reward some of our most loyal customers with free food. After a record number of participants in 2011, we're excited to see the growth of the event and the creativity of our customers in 2012."

The additional excitement around Cow Appreciation Day each year offers further proof that the passion for Chick-fil-A's beloved bovines is stronger than ever. For the past 17 years, the renegade "Eat Mor Chikin" Cows have entertained consumers with their desperate, self-preserving antics in an effort to convert beef eaters into chicken fans.  

The Chick-fil-A Cows and the "Eat Mor Chikin" campaign have enjoyed such widespread public success that the chain has evolved the award-winning campaign into a fully integrated marketing program. In addition to clever roadside billboards, the "Eat Mor Chikin" Cows are the focal point of Chick-fil-A's in-store point-of-purchase materials, promotions, radio and TV advertising, and clothing and merchandise sales, such as the popular Cow Calendar.