The Huffington Post reported that the casting call was promoted on Craig’s List with the following message:

This is a call for girls 18-30 years old to submit videos of themselves eating a Carls Jr. or Hardee’s burger. Be sure to introduce yourself, tell us where you (or the girl) is from, and state your favorite Carl’s Jr. or Hardee’s burger before eating.[...]
The winner will have the chance to appear in an upcoming Carl’s Jr. or Hardee’s marketing campaign, a $1,000 cash prize and an all-expense paid trip for you and a friend to Las Vegas.

WHAT DO YOU THINK?  SHARE A COMMENT BELOW.

The essay contest, entitled “Maid Brigade Veterans Franchise Giveaway,” offers to waive the $14,500 franchise for up to 100 vets who want to sign on as franchisees, and will award one turn-key franchise package – all expenses paid – to the Grand Prize Winner.

Lisa Sperling (770-736-3573) is the PR contact for the program, which is being promoted via a dedicated website, Twitter campaign and publicity initiative.  Press releases follow:

Maid Brigade Announcement

Maid Brigade Contest Application

Maid Brigade Panel of Judges

Maid Brigade Salutes Veterans with $1.5 Million Franchise Giveaway
Contest Will Offer New Careers to 100+ Military Veterans

(June 29, 2009) — They’ve earned their medals in the U.S. Armed Forces. Now veterans can prove
their mettle in the business world with the Maid Brigade Veterans Franchise Giveaway, a program that will
award more than $1.5 million in business ownership opportunities to 100+ veterans, creating more than 1,000 jobs nationwide.

The contest comes at a time when America’s economy is down, but patriotism is high. Maid Brigade, the
award-winning residential cleaning service and longtime supporter of the military, is acting on both fronts by offering new careers to veterans, a group it considers worthy, qualified, and proven as franchise owners.
Currently, 10 percent of Maid Brigade owners are veterans; others in the network come from a range of careers.

The contest will launch on Independence Day, July 4, and conclude on Veterans Day, November 11, 2009.
To apply for the giveaway, veterans must visit www.maidbrigadegiveaway.com to complete the form and to
submit a short essay by September 30 on how their military responsibilities would translate to successful Maid Brigade franchise ownership.

Maid Brigade will waive its $14,500 Select Market Franchise fee for as many as 100 qualified veteran applicants. Additionally, one grand prize winner will receive a new Maid Brigade franchise operation at zero cost —a total value of $45,000, which includes waived franchise fees, working capital, training, and
equipment. Second and third place winners will receive similar packages valued at $27,500 and $17,500, respectively. A Maid Brigade Select Market Franchise is designed for smaller geographical regions. Owners manage all business aspects of an operation and oversee a staff of employees who clean homes following Maid Brigade’s certified Green Cleaning system.

Maid Brigade’s four-member panel of judges consists of U.S. Navy Rear Admiral Michael H. Miller; Ted Daywalt, military veteran and President of VetJobs, the leading military-related job board on the Internet and endorsed by The Veterans of Foreign Wars, Vietnam Veterans of America, the Naval Reserve Association and the Veterans of Modern Warfare; decorated U.S. military veteran and Maid Brigade franchise owner Ray Toombs; and Maid Brigade Chairman and Founder Don Hay.

“Military veterans have done so much for our country,” said Hay of the Maid Brigade franchise network.
“This year on Veterans Day, we want to show them our appreciation by giving them their own business, a new career, and comfortable lifestyle.” Unlike a typical military career and some other franchises, Maid Brigade franchise ownership is a Monday to Friday business with daytime hours, no nights, and no weekends. It allows time home with one’s family and an opportunity for business growth and a high ROI. Maid Brigade, a recession-resistant business, has weathered previous recessions of the 1980s, 1990s and post-9/11, without a drop in same store sales.

Franchise businesses consider veterans to be excellent franchise owners. They’re disciplined self-starters,
they embrace teamwork and know how to follow a proven path to success. Maid Brigade’s technology-driven business systems, highly standardized cleaning processes, and ongoing corporate support make its organization an especially good fit for veterans.

Hay and his wife, Maid Brigade Vice President of Franchise Recruitment and self-proclaimed “Navy Brat” Cathy Hay, have always believed in a vigorous commitment to the U.S. military. For years, Maid Brigade has partnered with the non-profit Operation Homefront to provide military families in crisis with free housecleaning services; it has also consistently offered veterans discounted franchising fees and larger territories.

Maid Brigade is a longtime member of VetFran, the Veterans Transition Franchise Initiative, created by the International Franchise Association and supported by the Center for Veterans Enterprise.
One of the contest judges, Army and Navy veteran Ray Toombs, and his wife bought their Maid Brigade
operation in Ohio in 2003. “The military was a big part of my life, and it meant a lot to be recognized for my
service by Maid Brigade and VetFran,” Toombs said. Since they launched their business, the Toombs’
franchise has experienced 15 to 20 percent growth per year. Other couples also own Maid Brigade operations; system-wide the network comprise 17 percent couples, 48 percent men, and 35 percent women as owners.

While Maid Brigade has a long and rich history of supporting veterans, a new bill, the Help Veterans Own
Franchises Act (HR 2672), has recently been introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives to encourage
other franchise businesses to offer discounts for veterans interested in buying a franchise.

Veteran applications are due by September 30, 2009. Detailed Veterans Franchise Giveaway rules are
available at www.maidbrigadegiveaway.com. Veteran applications are due by September 30, 2009.
Headquartered in Atlanta, Maid Brigade is a global residential cleaning service with more than 420 locations in the United States and Canada. Established in 1979, it has grown its market share every year since its inception, with system-wide sales over $70 million in 2008. Unique to Maid Brigade is its Green Clean Certified® cleaning system, the only house cleaning system that uses green cleaning solutions certified by Green Seal State of the art technology, training and ongoing support also set apart the franchiser, which helped it earn several franchising accolades, including rankings in and magazines and awards from Franchise Research Institute, The Franchise Ratings Guide, and FranNet.

For more information, visit www.maidbrigade.com or call 800-722-6243.

WHAT DO YOU THINK?  SHARE A COMMENT BELOW.

graphic:  Maid Brigade

On our recent post Ben & Jerry’s Busts on Haagen-Dazs. Again., I wrote of the long-standing tradition of Ben & Jerry’s taking its super-premium ice cream rival to task every chance it gets.

And I also noted the irony (and the deftness) with which the Unilever-owned Ben & Jerry’s continues to play the honest hippy up against the snotty corporate rival Häagen-Dazs.

In response to Ben & Jerry’s bashing Häagen-Dazs for reducing its container size by 2 oz., the Dazs sent us this coolly composed response:

You may have seen a recent message from Ben & Jerry’s calling out our decision to downsize our Häagen-Dazs cartons.

While the reality is that size sometimes matters, we continue to believe that quality matters more.

Our ice cream is created with only a few select, simple, all-natural ingredients.

That is why we searched six years for the perfect variety of strawberry for our Häagen-Dazs strawberry ice cream and why we paid four times more over the last two years for the raspberries that make it into our Häagen-Dazs raspberry sorbet.

And we wouldn’t think of soaking the raisins for our Häagen-Dazs rum raisin ice cream even a minute less than the 60,480 minutes (42 days, actually) that they currently luxuriate in their rum baths.

Why not? Because then it just wouldn’t be Häagen-Dazs. Call us obsessive. But we’re that serious about our ice cream. We hope you’ll continue to make it your ice cream.

Thank you for giving us a chance to respond.

These guys are like two actors in a play, each playing their own role.  You gotta wonder if they get together and choreograph this stuff.

WHAT DO YOU THINK?  SHARE A COMMENT BELOW.

Scroll down to see or leave well wishes or comments for Jack Box.

Scroll down to leave comments, well wishes, prayers or admonitions.

Feel free to leave thoughts, prayers, and comments below.

Denny’s was once the chain restaurant king of breakfast, ’til McDonald’s came along and stole the crown.  Today, 1550 unit Denny’s  doesn’t even rank in the top 5 in the $83 billion breakfast market (McDonald’s, Starbucks, Dunkin’ Donuts, Burger King, and IHOP).

To make matters worse, franchise unit sales were down 7.2% last quarter – a time when its value positioning should be giving it a boost.

So Denny’s hatched a bold plan to get some attention. 

On Tuesday, February 3, they gave away a Grand Slam breakfast to anyone who showed up at all but two of its 1,550 restaurants nationwide. (The Grand Slam includes two eggs, two strips of bacon, two sausages and two pancakes and normally sells for $5.99.)

According to an article in USA Today, Denny’s invested about $5 million on the entire promotion, including food costs, labor costs and airing a :30 commercial on Sunday’s Super Bowl.

"We’re re-acquainting America with Denny’s," says CEO Nelson Marchioli. "We’ve never been thanked this much — and folks are saying they’ll come back."

The gambit earned Denny’s something that money alone can’t buy: positive public relations, and lots of it. By Denny’s estimates, it got $50 million in free news coverage, almost all of it positive. No injuries — or police issues — were reported at any locations, say Denny’s officials.

Marchioli implied that they made up quite a bit of their costs on high-margin beverages not included in the Grand Slam giveaway.  "…he concedes: If you factor in the profits from all of Tuesday’s drink orders — which are far more profitable than food orders — ‘we’ll do better than break even.’  And, yes, he just may do it again."

Here’s the company press release:

COLUMBUS, Ohio, Jan. 8 /PRNewswire/ — White Castle restaurants will introduce new "green" food packaging in all 412 locations over the next few weeks. The formerly white paper sack and white corrugated Crave Cases are going "green" by switching to brown paper and corrugated. The new brown paper sacks are made from 100% recycled material. The new brown Crave Case packaging bears the recyclable icon.

"White Castle has been a responsible steward of the environment for many years in several different aspects of our businesses and operations. This is our most recent commitment to growth of our role in the community — emphasizing the importance of environmental concerns," said marketing vice president Kim Bartley.

White Castle owns and operates three of its own bakeries and employs its own fleet of refrigerated trucks to distribute the flash frozen buns to restaurants in 12 states. They have been committed to reusing and recycling the outer bun cartons since 1965. The White Castle frozen sandwich product is shipped in corrugated cartons bearing the familiar circle of three arrows indicating their recyclable status.

Since 1992, the company has used Duro-Last white roofing for new restaurant construction. Warranted for 15 to 20 years, Duro-Last reflects over 86% of the sun’s energy, reducing energy costs. Duro-Last is a charter partner in the ENERGY STAR(R) Roof Products Program, sponsored by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

White Castle division PSB Company recycles thousands of pounds of metal each year including stainless, galvanized and cold-rolled. White Castle recycles approximately 1200 pounds of recyclable plastics per year.

LED lighting used in 55 White Castle restaurant locations reduced CO2 by 948 tons per year. Each unit retrofit reduces CO2 emissions by 17 tons per year. Annual electricity savings is $2,550 per store from an investment of approximately $10,000 per store.

Plans are underway for more environmentally responsible initiatives including storm water bioretention and use of more green building materials in the construction of restaurant buildings.

White Castle opened its first restaurant in Wichita, Kansas, in 1921 and sold its burgers for only 5 cents. White Castle owns and operates 412 restaurants in Chicago, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus, Detroit, Indianapolis, Louisville, Minneapolis, Nashville, New Jersey, New York, and St. Louis.

Read more here:  Who’s Going Green: White Castle

WHITE CASTLE: Harold & Kumar Go…Green?

WHAT DO YOU THINK?  SHARE A COMMENT BELOW.

__________________________

FEATURED STORY:

TanWorld: Creating the Next-Generation Tanning Salon Franchise

OVERVIEW Interview with Tanworld V.P. Bob McQuillan

Visit FRANBEST’s: Unbiased franchise information, franchise interviews and detailed, searchable information on 400 franchise and business opportunities.

.

Franchisees, customers & experts vote for their favorite new franchises at Top New Franchise: Who’s hot. Who’s not.

(Franchisor Marketing) Related stories:

LITTLE CAESARS: Veterans Franchise Program Honors Those Who Serve

Semper Pie: Little Caesars’ Michael Ilitch Recognized for Helping Disabled Vets Open Franchises

by Sean Kelly

Franchising is all about creating Win-Win-Win situations.  In the best deals, the franchisee wins.  The franchisor wins.  The vendors win.  And the customers win. (OK, make the Win-Win-Win-Win).

That being said, Little Caesar Enterprises, Inc. certainly has created a winning franchise marketing initiative with their Little Caesars Veterans Program.

They are getting a ton of great press, including lots of valuable blog and Internet coverage (and that’s the best kind, my friends.  That’s where franchise leads come from)

They are getting dozens of great franchisees.  Honorably discharged veterans are highly prized as franchisees, as they are seen as highly disciplined and used to following systems, procedures and orders.

They are able to expand with franchisees who also have additional financing options open to them via their veteran and/or disability (in some cases) status.

And they are creating goodwill and a positive brand image in a very genuine way, as the program was a personal mission of Little Caesars founder and ex-Marine Michael Ilitch. As I wrote in a post on Franchise Pick last September, Ilitch was awarded the highest tribute given to a private citizen by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs.

The program is so successful for both the franchisor and franchisees that Little Caesar president David Scrivano recently announced that they would be adding additional benefits and extending the program at least another two years.

The Little Caesars Veterans Program Gives Vets a Helping Hand

The Little Caesars Veterans Program provides franchise opportunities to veterans as they transition to civilian life or seek a career change. It offers honorably discharged service-disabled veterans who qualify as Little Caesars franchisees a benefit of up to approximately $68,000. The benefit for honorably discharged non-service-disabled veterans who qualify as Little Caesars franchisees has now increased from $10,000 to up to approximately $20,000.

The Secret to the Program’s Success?  Commitment.

Minority programs.  Women’s programs.  Veterans programs… Stick around franchising long enough and you’ll see  lots of franchise marketing incentive programs come and go without much impact.

The program was launched in 2006 with the intent to review the level of interest and results after two years. Nearly three times the expected number of veterans are participating in the program. Currently, 45 veterans collectively are applying more than $1.25 million in credits and benefits to help them grow their Little Caesars businesses. To date, 2,400 inquires have been made about the program.

Why has the Little Caesars Veterans Program succeeded where others have failed?

Take a look at the Little Caesars Veterans Program website and the answer is clear:  commitment and follow-through.

The program has its own website, logo and identity.  It has its own downloadable franchise brochure.

There are press releases and PR support for every single veteran store opening.

There are Little Caesars Veteran Franchisee Profiles and photos to make it easy for publications to run the story and spread the word.

Little Caesars PR firm, Evins Communications, was aggressively spreading the word not only via traditional media, but also with assistance from social media and blogging influencers.

In my experience, the total commitment and execution of programs like this require a mandate from the top to make sure it happens.  (It doesn’t hurt when that mandate is coming from an ex-Marine.)

Semper Pie.

For more information, visit the Little Caesars Veterans Program, view more Little Caesars Veteran Franchisee Profiles, or download the Little Caesars Veteran Program brochure.

WHAT DO YOU THINK?  SHARE A COMMENT BELOW.

__________________________

Visit FRANBEST’s: Unbiased franchise information, franchise interviews and detailed, searchable information on 400 franchise and business opportunities.

.

Franchisees, customers & experts vote for their favorite new franchises at Top New Franchise: Who’s hot. Who’s not.