A Cow for a Cup at Dairy Queen

Dairy Queen's latest promotion is nothing to moo about—the QSR encouraged customers to bring a cow to any participating location for a free MooLatte, DQ's new frozen blended coffee beverage.

Cows from across the country visited DQ this week

The promotion, designed to kick off the state fair season, took place Aug. 24 and there was no bending of the rules. Consumers actually had to bring a real life bovine to their local Dairy Queen—stuffed dogs or dogs dressed like cows did not make the cut. To make the odd promotion more accessible, consumers were permitted to bring their cows to the drive-through.

To date, officials at Dairy Queen have been notified by 36 operators of cows being brought to their locations nationwide. Markets with cows at their DQs include Raytown, MO; Wills Point, TX; Lakeland, FL; and Lebanon, PA. Six cows, the most at any DQ location, visited the Green Valley, AZ restaurant.

Montana rancher Skip Houghland brought his steer, Bonnie Prince Charles Edward Stuart, right on in for his free MooLatte after reading about the promo.

The promotion created much buzz for Dairy Queen and was covered by over 200 local and national news outlets from across the country. The cow promo even made ESPN's Top Ten Plays of the Day ranking at No. 7.

"We're expanding our customer base with new products like MooLatte [which launched in June]," said Michael Keller, executive VP-marketing for International Dairy Queen, Inc. "And, with this promotion, we've added a new twist."

Pierson Grant Public Relations, Ft. Lauderdale, FL, handled.