Summary: For more than 100 years
PR tricks have worked successfully. And the Kansas City Star has once
again fallen for one pulled off by Chick-fil-A (9/14) with a huge photo and puff
piece as veteran business columnist Joyce Smith spent an evening interviewing
idiots trying to be the first 100 in line. Normally Smith will not even
cover franchise openings.
The grand prize? 52 coupons worth $260 (at
retail, if
they are redeemed). The cost of a a
full-page ad in the Kansas City Star? About $45,000. The winner by a
knockout: Chick-fil-A !!!
CITYSCAPE
Party with a payoff
By JOYCE SMITH
The Kansas City Star
“It was fun, and I got to meet a lot of people because I was there so early. I
got a Chick-fil-A chair. Other than that, I got the same prizes as the people
who came 12 hours later and got more sleep than I did.”
A month ago, Jonathan Riley, 22, decided he wanted to be the first customer when
the new Chick-fil-A opened in Olathe.
Riley thought it was a novel idea. And he thought it would be easy to be first
if he showed up a few minutes early.
He was wrong on both counts.
For the past three years, Chick-fil-A has launched its new locations with the
“First 100 Event.” The first 100 people in line receive 52 coupons for free
Chick-fil-A combo meals — chicken sandwich, waffle fries and a drink — to use
over the following year, a $260 value.
The event has become so popular — both for the free food and the bragging rights
— that customers camp out overnight in the parking lot to be one of the first
100 people in the restaurants. Chick-fil-A, based in Atlanta, has given out more
than $3.5 million in food through the promotion.
The freebies were an added incentive for Riley and his friend Mark Wieczorek,
who were first in line when they arrived at 5:15 a.m. Wednesday. They played
“rock, paper, scissors” instead of flipping a coin to decide who would be No. 1.
Riley won.
“We thought the line would fill up quick, but it was 30 minutes later before
someone else showed up,” Riley said. “We were glad to see them. We thought we
were doing something wrong. They started checking people in about 6 a.m.”
Later in the day, newlyweds Kristoffer and Jennifer Masuch were walking by when
they saw the tents set up throughout the parking lot. The couple, who recently
moved to the area from Arizona, thought it would be a great way to meet people
and called relatives to bring them some overnight gear.
Wednesday evening, Riley, a chemistry major at MidAmerica Nazarene University,
retired to his tent to study. No. 11, No. 54 and No. 97 soon crashed his tent.
To pass the time, Chick-fil-A also offered free meals, an ice cream party, a
Hula Hoop contest, a scavenger hunt and a DJ. But after a complaint, the Olathe
Police Department around 11 p.m. asked that the noise be kept down because the
restaurant — at 12087 S. Blackbob Road — is near homes.
Chick-fil-A did a random roll call throughout the night. Anyone who left the
parking lot was disqualified. The first 100 also tended to self-police the line,
which eventually grew to 150 people, including many families.
Just before the 6:30 a.m. Thursday opening, people were given their official
numbers, along with Chick-fil-A T-shirts and hats. A giant Chick-fil-A cow
mascot — with the slogan “eat mor chikin” — high-fived the winners as they
entered the restaurant while employees banged pans and cheered.
Kristoffer and Jennifer Masuch were among the first 100, coming away with 104
meal coupons in two little boxes and some new friends.
Just under the wire were Scott Rist and Alex Noury, both of Olathe, who were No.
108 and No. 107 — respectively — when they logged in at 7:40 p.m. Wednesday.
Rist correctly predicted that enough people would drop out through the night to
put them in the top 100. When he kept pestering the staff and questioning their
count, they dubbed him “Mr. Cranky,” a name Rist seemed as pleased with as his
eventual No. 100 status.
He hoped to catch a couple of hours of sleep before his 10 a.m. shift started at
Target, across the street from Chick-fil-A. But he was too wound up.
Riley, who was heading to school for a full day of classes, was too tired to
really relish his No. 1 status, but not too tired to set his sights on the next
“First 100 Event.”
“It was fun, and I got to meet a lot of people because I was there so early,” he
said. “I got a Chick-fil-A chair. Other than that, I got the same prizes as the
people who came 12 hours later and got more sleep than I did.
“But there’s one opening in December, and it will be colder than it is now. I
decided to shoot for in the 90s then. I got my No. 1 done, so I can relax and
let someone else have it.”