The Cheesecake Factory & Feeding America Drive

Best Use of Event Marketing (More Than Five Venues)

The Cheesecake Factory® & Feeding America® Drive
Agency: STAGE Active-Brand Marketing
Client: The Cheesecake Factory®

In light of the economic downturn, The Cheesecake Factory, a long-time supporter of community hunger relief, which operates 146 restaurants, wanted to amplify its partnership with hunger-relief agency Feeding America. The Cheesecake Factory took its message of hunger relief on the road, visiting 30 cities in 30 days for the “Drive Out Hunger” Tour.

As part of September’s “Hunger Action Month,” The Cheesecake Factory launched the “You dine, we donate” event; for every person who brought in a can of soup when dining, the restaurant chain donated 10% of their check to local food banks. Cheesecake enthusiasts also received a complimentary slice of Stefanie’s Ultimate Red Velvet Cake Cheesecake when they donated.

The tour included appearances from actor David Arquette – chairman of Feeding America’s Entertainment Council, as well as a live performance by Tamar Kaprelian (a former Cheesecake Factory employee) whose hit single, “New Day,” served as the tour’s anthem.

Press included live radio feeds, a press conference in Washington, DC, Entertainment Tonight, local morning TV shows, newspaper and digital media. A micro-site encouraged people not on the tour route to donate.

In total, more than 392,000 cans of soup were donated and more than 641 million media impressions were achieved for a great cause.

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