East Coast quick-casual chain California Tortilla will donate more than 400 pounds of rice and beans to So Others Might Eat (SOME) and the D.C. Central Kitchen — one pound for each customer who voted for them in the recent Shorty Awards campaign. The chain finished second in the food category, breaking ground as the only retail chain to make the top five in the contest, which recognizes the best content providers on Twitter, a fast-rising social networking application.
Unfortunately, more than half of the 400 ballots cast for the company were disqualified by the Shorty Award organizers as part of a competition-wide audit. Voters needed to have registered Twitter accounts by Dec. 31, 2008, to be eligible to vote. The company will still donate one pound of food for each vote, however, even the ones that were thrown out.
“We are proud of our second-place finish in the Shorty Awards,” says Stacey Kane, director of marketing. “No other retail chain made the final round, and we just about doubled our amount of followers during the competition. The back-and-forth instantaneous communication we have developed with our customers will be a major part of our planning and marketing strategy moving forward.”
The chain will give dry rice and beans to the two charities, fulfilling a promise made at the beginning of the final round to give one pound per vote. In addition, each of the over 400 voters received a tweet for a free taco.
Since launching their Twitter account last fall, California Tortilla has used it to release exclusive news about promotions, reminders about in-store specials, and other “insider info” to hundreds of contacts.
