O'Shaughnessy Distilling Co.’s Post

"Fancy like Applebee's on a date night, Got that Bourbon Street steak and an Oreo shake With some whipped cream, on the top too, 2 straws one check, girl I got you..." Do you always sing along with Walker Hayes' song...Fancy Like? Now Applebee's Neighborhood Grill + Bar is leaning into this earworm, with a Date Night Subscription Pass. $200 gets you up to 52 "Date Nights" of up to $30 each. Not surprisingly the subscription was a hit, apparently selling out in 30 seconds, and nearly crashing Applebee's website. It's not known how many passes were actually sold, and many consumers feel hoodwinked. The offer was rich and the demand is definitely there. Other restaurants have experimented with varying degrees of success with subscriptions (remember the Taco Bell Taco Lovers Pass?). It makes sense to me. A susbcription (or a premium membership) can smooth out cashflow for the restaurant, drive preference and habits with consumers, and create some buzz too. (Normally, I'd share an article, but today, I'm sharing the song, for your enjoyment!) #restauranttech #fastcasual #subscriptions #membership https://lnkd.in/gQ35Qr6T

"Everywhere Else, It's Just Tuesday!" Today is Fat Tuesday, or Mardi Gras, here in the New Orleans region, and several other regions around the Gulf South. (And, yes France, and Brazil...) Of course, we firmly believe that no one else does it like New Orleans does it, so that's my perspective... From college forward, that's been the case. Moving here from Jackson, MS, Mardi Gras was a bit of a culture shock, but I loved it! I loved the acceptance of everyone for who they are. I loved the costumes and group t-shirts - the spirit of the day (and the season). And I really loved the people-watching. Observing our audience and paying attention to what matters to them is one of the highest-value activities we can do as business owners. During parades, it's not just "Throw Me Something Mister," human behavior is woven into every interaction on the parade routes throughout the regions. Crowds in the city behave differently than those in the suburbs. Certain parades attract different types of attendees. The personality of the parade attracts its ideal audience. Parade-goers can choose the dates they want to attend parades based on their schedules or they may have favorite parades based on personality and messages that are synonymous with each parade. And this has been happening for centuries (since Iberville in 1699). The city celebrated its TriCentenial in 2019. (source: NewOrleans.com) So, next time you feel out of sync with your audience or you find yourself wringing your hands about attracting ideal clients for your business, just channel a little Mardi Gras spirit. Do a little people-watching, pay attention to what your target audience is saying (and what they avoid saying), and the problems they mention most often. See how you might position your solutions to help them solve those top-of-mind problems. And for extra credit, think about creating your own special celebrations that just don't exist anywhere else so your people want to come hang out with you for these special and exclusive celebrations. And just for today, Happy Mardi Gras! or Happy Tuesday! if you are anywhere else in the world.

Kansas City’s first Black Feast Week kicked off this week. In the coming days, I’m going to have some tough decisions to make about lunch or dinner plans. Through Oct. 14, more than a dozen Black-owned restaurants will band together to help support Willa’s Books and Vinyl, the city’s longest standing Black-owned bookstore. Not only is it vital to support locally-owned small businesses — we must ensure this venerable store remains a part of our community. Independent bookstores, especially Black-owned ones, are extremely important to the culture here. Sixteen restaurants will take part. The fare ranges from delicious vegan options to some of the tastiest fried foods in the city. Also on tap: Ethiopian and soul food dishes, as well as several unique loaded baked potato options from TC’s Fully Loaded food truck. Kansas City’s first Black-owned brewery, Vine Street Brewing Co., is offering deals on beer flights. Hungry or thirsty yet? To read my latest column on this wondeful event spearheaded by The Kansas City Defender, click on the link below or visit www.kansascity.com to #subscribe. For a list of participating restaurants, be sure to follow the Defender's page on #IG. LINK: ⬇️⬇️⬇️ https://lnkd.in/gi5W4KXy #black #feast #week #kcmo #kansascity #blackfeast #blackfeastweek

#StPatricksDay was first observed around the 10th century and has since evolved into a celebration of Irish culture and heritage open to anyone. St. Patrick’s Day is celebrated in more countries than any other single-day national festival, mainly due to America’s enthusiasm for what many consider a holiday. For those in the U.S. looking to celebrate properly, use the Irish toast “sláinte,” which translates to “good health.” 🍀 Are you going out to celebrate the day?? For St. Patrick’s Day, the nationaltoday.com/ data science team surveyed 1,000 Americans on how they plan to spend the day. Wear green: 30% Eat Irish food: 13% I don’t plan to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day: 12% Pinch people who don’t wear green: 9% Drink green beer: 8% Go to a St. Patrick’s Day parade: 6% Listen to Irish music: 5% Watch an Irish movie: 4% Go on a pub crawl: 3% Go Irish dancing: 2%

In the bustling city of Las Vegas, Nevada, Super Bowl LVIII is currently underway, with the dazzling Allegiant Stadium taking center stage as the host venue. The excitement is palpable as football enthusiasts and fans from all corners eagerly anticipate the unfolding spectacle, promising a perfect blend of sportsmanship, entertainment, and the vibrant energy unique to Vegas. Las Vegas is known for many things: casinos, spectacular shows, over-the-top nightlife, and bad decisions (hey, what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, as they say!) For foodies like me, Sin City is most famous for one thing: buffets. No city in America gives you a better opportunity to eat your weight in delicious food. But how did Vegas become so synonymous with the all-you-can-eat buffet? For that matter, how did buffets get started in the first place? Let’s dig in… #lasvegas #SuperBowlLVIII

Save the date

Interesting!! I have the plan of creating something like like this in sometimetocome.

That's a wrap on 4/20, 2024! 💨 The team and I put some serious work into our campaigns for Holistic Industries, and I'm proud of what we delivered! Peep the video below to get a snapshot of how we honored 4/20 this year. #cannabisindustry #cannabismarketing

Some interesting echoes of Sir John Hegarty's MAD//FEST LONDON talk yesterday in Sir Martin Sorrell's talk today. Asked what he’d recommend to youngsters joining the industry Sir Martin said learn Chinese, Spanish and coding – not just because they’re useful skills, but because it’ll exercise your brain in a way that we don’t do enough of now. Whilst Sir Martin Sorrell also talked about trying tech fast, because it will change faster than you think, Rory Sutherland talked about what slow AI might look like. Sometimes we need to take time to do things, we need to put in the right amount of effort to achieve what we need to. Being more efficient can be easy to achieve, being more effective is often much harder. Thanks MAD//FEST – lots of great thinking to make the little grey cells fire up – now to slowly digest and think about the learnings to take forward.