The Habit Burger Grill, a California-based restaurant company has launched a unique new brand campaign full of fake birds and horses, plus a tomato named Jeremy Jr. to help bring its food to a national audience.
“There You Hab It” touts the Santa Barbara-based fast casual chain’s irreverent SoCal beach personality and cult status in a series of spots by agency Party Land.
In one spot, a farmer drives up to a patron eating a burger and asks if she likes Jeremy Jr., the tomato he grew just for The Habit.
In another, a couple on the back of a very fake-looking horse feeds a cobb salad to the horse, named Chris, in a beach setting.
A third spot finds a man shooing away a flock of hungry fake seagulls from his char-grilled burger and fries. Each ad ends with the tag, “There You Hab It.”
“Party Land has helped us bring together our passion for better burgers and our pride of being from Santa Barbara into a unique platform for distinctive messaging,” said Ken Chan, head of digital and storytelling at The Habit Burger Grill in a statement. “It’s not easy to blend a sense of place, product and humor in the right way and they found a great recipe.”
The “There You Hab It” campaign coincides with The Habit’s rapid U.S. and global expansion. With 330 restaurant locations and growing, The Habit seeks to become one of America’s go-to restaurant destinations.
The campaign also includes digital outdoor, digital display and social ads.
“The Habit is a brand that’s laid back and doesn’t take itself too seriously but also doesn’t mess around when it comes to chargrilled meat and flavor. We leaned into offbeat comedy to appeal to their cult-like fans and get the uninitiated to pay attention, then we put the product front and center in a visual world that nods back to their beach town vibes,” said Natalia Fredericks, creative director at Party Land, which was selected as The Habit’s agency of record in 2022 following a competitive review.