Storytelling – Turning a Restaurant Robbery into Viral Advertising
Using storytelling, Frijoles converted the footage of a burglary at the restaurant into a piece of advertising which became viral
The footage of a robbery at a taco shop in Las Vegas was turned into a funny commercial, and many Internet users were craving corn tortillas because of it.
Two men can be seen on surveillance video ransacking a closed Frijoles & Frescas Grilled Tacos restaurant.
When the robbery occurred, the restaurant’s general manager, Greg Carlson, was alerted by an alarm system.
The glass had been broken out of the door when he arrived at the scene. Both cash registers had vanished. And a smile spread across Greg’s face. There was nothing in them.
In the backroom, playing recordings from all four cameras, he watched how two burglars stormed in and stormed out in less than five minutes, after which he poured himself a cup of coffee.
We’re going to incur some costs as a result of this,’ he thought to himself. Instead of wasting time, I’ll turn this into something interesting for our food,” I said.
Because Greg was an amateur videographer, he was quick to put his plan into action. Carlson posted a YouTube video the day after the robbery to spread the word.
Video footage of the intruders searching for tacos was overlaid with text describing how desperate they were to get their hands on one.
A short time later, after the robbers had fled, the video cuts to close-up shots of tacos topped with grilled meats, fresh herbs, and guacamole, along with an apology from the restaurant for any unintended consequences its tacos may have caused.
The video also urged viewers to call the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department if they had any information about the robbery. The taco reward was Carlson’s last resort to solve the case.
Within a few days of its release, the video had racked up over 5 million views on YouTube. Since the break-in, they saw a significant increase in customers, many of whom came thereafter watching his YouTube video. Many people have been inspired to get tacos for lunch as a result of the video’s widespread distribution on social media.
Do you know why?
Assume that Greg released a raw video with the title “We got robbed!” Buy our tacos so we can get our mojo back.” Nobody would watch that, much less do anything about it.
Information in its raw form has no interest to anyone. If your content doesn’t resonate with your audience, you’re doing yourself a disservice. Content without a story Is Just a list of facts.
Telling a story and telling it well is the answer.
When you tell a story, you entice your audience by tying them to their emotions. While watching Greg’s video, did you notice how he managed to elicit a range of emotions from you? For this reason, as well as the others, stories compel you to continue reading them.
The second reason is that stories provide a means for people to come together and share their experiences. You may not have met Greg yet, but I can already tell that you enjoy him. You felt sorry for him after reading this. You’ll be more likely to buy something, share a link, or click the “follow” button when you have that sense of connection.
Two things go hand-in-hand when it comes to marketing: feelings and stories. Tell a lot more stories.
And when life gives you lemons – make lemonade
