Chili’s Grill & Bar will launch an immersive pop-experience in New York on April 16 that continues its sparring with fast food chains over value, per a press release. Chili's Big Crispy Food Court allows consumers to serve as the jury as the casual dining chain makes its case that its latest 3 For Me meal, which now includes its Big Crispy chicken sandwiches, is better than offerings like McDonald's McCrispy.
The experience will run from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at 37 Union Square West — in a space next to a McDonald’s location — and will give attendees a Big Crispy 3 For Me. Consumers can share their “verdict” as part of an integration with Court TV that will air as a segment hosted by Court TV anchor Vinnie Politan, per details shared with Marketing Dive. Consumers unable to attend the pop-up can share their case against fast food on the X platform for a chance to win a Chili’s gift card.
The Big Crispy filet was 82% bigger than the average McCrispy, according to a study the brand conducted in the Dallas-Ft. Worth area, a phenomenon that CMO George Felix attributes to continued “fast food shrinkflation,” in the press release.
Chili’s 3 For Me menu includes an entree and fries, chips and salsa and an unlimited fountain drink for $10.99. Six variations of the Big Crispy join other offerings, like the Big Smasher and Big QP burgers, that have featured in previous Chili’s campaigns. Last year, Chili’s ran a Fast Food Financing experience in the same location that emulated a payday loan retailer. The effort in support of the Big QP burger also included spots in the style of low-budget TV ads that positioned fast food as “just for trillionaires.”
The new effort also includes 15- and 30-second ads running on TV, CTV and online that make a straightforward pitch around the price-point value of the new 3 For Me options. The value-driven marketing that positions Chili’s as a competitor to fast food chains was informed by insights drawn from social listening, Felix explained during a fireside chat at Marketing Dive’s CMO Summit virtual event earlier this year.
“As we started to listen to what consumers were saying, we realized that fast food prices have risen so much recently that they are now comparable to the price you pay for a full-service sit-down meal at a place like Chili's,” Felix said. “We believe fast food has broken their promise to consumers, in that they were supposed to be the most affordable and most convenient option.”
Chili’s marketing, which has combined pitches around value with nods to cultural nostalgia, has helped drive success at the chain. It recently notched its 19th consecutive quarter of same-store sales growth, with the last four exceeding 20%. Felix, who joined Chili’s in 2022, was promoted to executive vice president and CMO in March for the entire Brinker International business, which includes Chili’s and Maggiano’s Little Italy.
“As a marketer, you don't want to spend too much time on a competitor or a different brand, so we really try to shine a light on the things that we are doing. In this case, we are using fast food as a foil to from a comparison standpoint,” Felix said during the summit about the chain’s stance on competitive sparring.
