A&W Flips the Celebrity Meal Script, Making Its Workers the Stars

McDonald’s has its much-ballyhooed Mariah Menu, along with previous blockbuster Travis Scott and BTS collaborations. Popeyes, meanwhile, has a new endorser and franchisee in Megan Thee Stallion, Tim Hortons snagged Justin Bieber for a self-referential line of breakfast treats, and Dunkin' drink The Charli was crafted with TikTok star Charli D'Amelio. But smaller fast food player A&W is flipping the script on star-studded fast food this week, launching its own version of the celebrity meal—this time shining the spotlight on its real-world workforce. In other words, Saweetie, J Balvin and the other A-listers can step aside. It’s time to eat like Gerald, Hannah, Raider and Jada. The chain’s campaign, dubbed “Anti-Celebrity Meals,” serves a number of purposes. It catapults the Southern brand into the pop culture conversation about ubiquitous fast food tie-ins with Hollywood and musical chart-toppers, adding a cheeky spin and serving as a brand builder for A&W’s 500 restaurants. And perhaps just as importantly, it serves as a splashy help-wanted ad as the fast food industry suffers from a critical labor shortage, mirroring other categories in the enduring pandemic's “great resignation” period. (75% of restaurant operators said this July that recruiting and retaining employees is their top challenge, compared to 8% in January 2021, per a survey from the National Restaurant Association.) McDonald's Saweetie Meal gets an unexpected competitor in A&W's Hannah Meal. Becoming a household name In truth, “Anti-Celebrity Meals” is a bit of a misnomer, since the work turns A&W’s regular employees—and their meal preferences—into VIPs in their communities. The campaign premieres with four workers from Central Kentucky, but franchisees throughout the chain will be choosing their own “local celebrities” to feature in marketing materials and in-store activations. Typically we focus our campaigns almost exclusively on menu items, but hiring is one of the main issues that many of our restaurants are currently facing.—Liz Bazner, senior director of marketing, A&W “Anti-Celebrity Meals,” developed by agency Coomer, is a departure from the norm for A&W, which has stepped up its marketing with high-profile ads and stunts in 2021 from both Coomer and creative agency of record Cornett. “Typically we focus our campaigns almost exclusively on menu items, but hiring is one of the main issues that many of our restaurants are currently facing,” Liz Bazner, senior director of marketing, told Adweek. The challenge was “to create a ‘now hiring’ campaign that didn’t look like everyone else’s, would really stand out in a very crowded market and contained multiple pieces that our restaurant owners could customize.” The idea to elevate the existing workforce, which started at the operations team, came together from concept to execution in about 30 days, which Bazner called "unheard of" in its speed and "unusual" in its origins. “Celebrity partnerships with QSRs are everywhere and they’re not cheap,” Bazner said, “so we really liked the angle of celebrating our own actual team members as the focus of this project.” McDonald's might have J Balvin, but A&W has its small-town employees. Locally sourced luminaries Employees Gerald, Hannah, Raider and Jada got their own photo shoots—complete with hair, makeup, lighting and direction—for ads that will be used on digital and social media, window posters, yard signs and uniform T-shirts at their hometown stores. “Focusing on stellar employees in contrast to celebrities—who are far removed from what makes the customer experience so special—just makes sense,” said Jen Stratton, producer, brand content at Coomer. “It was obvious during the shoot how deserving they are of this recognition and celebration of everything their unique personalities bring to the workplace.” Local recruiting ads will include copy such as "Unlike other chains, we locally source our celeb meals," and "We don't need movie and music stars, we've got our fave celebs right here." A&W, with restaurants often located in small towns, has many long-time employees with decades of experience, Bazner said. But the chain has continued to open new stores, even through 2020’s inhospitable retail environment. Without a strong foothold yet in their communities, those locations are vying for workers in places “where every business has a 'now hiring' sign outside,” Bazner said. “Anti-Celebrity Meals” is the latest A&W campaign that taps into the zeitgeist, coming only a few months after the brand jumped onto the swag bandwagon with an artist-driven collection of made-in-America merchandise with price tags topping $700. Would You Pay $715 for A&W Apparel? The Chain's New Swag Takes Brand Merch to a New Level