How do you grab journalists' attention for a restaurant chain's burger menu during a time when international news and stories of tragedy are garnering the lion's share of the
media's time? Linhart McClain Finlon's client, Red Robin, specializes in 22 one-of-a-kind "gourmet" burgers and was looking for more press for its signature sandwiches.
The agency's answer was a contest guaranteed to grab attention: the first annual "What's Between Your Buns?" contest. The nationwide contest encouraged customers to submit
their creative gourmet burger recipes, either at Red Robin restaurants or through the mail, from September to October, 2001. The winning recipe would have a place on Red Robin's
menu in 2002. To make the already highly palatable contest even more enticing for media types, Red Robin partnered with the Starlight Children's Foundation, offering up to $50,000
in profits from the winning burger to the foundation.
News releases touting the contest were distributed during September, and by mid-October, the restaurant had received more than 500 recipes. After narrowing the list to 12 semi-
finalists, the agency distributed another release to local markets announcing cook-off events in Garden Grove, Calif.; Denver; Exton, Pa.; and Seattle. Media were invited to serve
as "celebrity" judges in each location. After the regional cook-offs (and another round of releases), the team announced the national grand prize winner in December. Lauren Berg,
a 13-year-old from Colorado Springs, Colo., and her grilled Portabello Burger were pitched extensively to the local and national media. The agency worked with the Starlight
Foundation to pitch the news of the winner, as well.
The results: an impressive 9 million print media impressions in publications in 20 states. Nearly 20 television news pieces in Denver, Seattle, Philadelphia and Indianapolis
covered the story, and the team is in talks with "The Rosie O'Donnell Show," "The Late Show with David Letterman," and "Weekend Today."