More and more, restaurant chains are moving beyond simply serving burgers or tacos to burnishing their playful brand identities (and winning social media eyeballs) by selling a host of branded merchandise. The merchandising ramps up, of course, during the holidays. From mugs to socks to onesies, here are some of the wacky branded goodies chains are offering up now.
Chipotle, which has an online retail shop selling T-shirts, aprons and more, is playing up its “real ingredients” marketing campaign with limited-edition salsa wrapping paper.
Taco Bell offers up a limited-time holiday shop online, complete with its bell logo adorned with holly berries. Almost three weeks before Christmas, a majority of the items were already sold out, including a $78 Mild Sauce packet jumpsuit, a $59 Santa taco sweater and a $40 ultra-plush burrito wrap blanket.
Chili’s opened a one-day-only online store selling its holiday merchandise. But first, it sent the items to social media influencers and brand superfans to drum up interest in the gear. Branded goodies such as a black Skillet Queso bomber jacket, a “Hi, Welcome to Chili’s” swimsuit, and burger, rib, fajita and margarita cuff link sets quickly sold out.
Cinnabon’s new line of apparel, mugs and more, all in pastel hues and decorated with sayings such as “I like big bons and I cannot lie” and “My head says gym but my heart says Cinnabon” seems targeted directly at millennials.
White Castle, which has sold limited-edition holiday mugs for the last several years, is offering up retro-looking blue mugs this year with a high-fashion pedigree. The mugs were designed by Telfar Clemens, who creates a popular unisex clothing line. Clemens also designed White Castle’s new uniforms as well as a retail apparel line for the chain that sold out quickly.
The state said that the fast-casual restaurant chain of customizable macaroni and cheese bowls failed to provide proper disclosures on its franchise documents. It’s the second state to take action against the business.
While the focus on restaurant menu price inflation has centered on premium items like the Big Mac, it’s in the smaller items, with fewer deals available, where prices have increased most.
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