Chili's Mocks Fast Food Prices With "Financing" Pop-Up

Chili's "Fast Food Financing" Pop-Up Takes Aim at Rising Prices

Chili's Grill & Bar has launched a unique marketing campaign targeting rising fast food prices. The campaign centers around a "Fast Food Financing" pop-up shop, designed to resemble a payday loan store. The pop-up, strategically located next to a McDonald's in New York City, offered gift cards to help customers cover the cost of fast food meals.

The pop-up, open for two days in April, also served Chili's new Big QP burger, positioned as a value alternative to fast food offerings. Promotional videos for the campaign parodied low-budget local TV ads, highlighting the strain of inflation on consumers' wallets.

Chili's Targets Value-Seeking Consumers

This campaign builds on Chili's strategy of emphasizing value and affordability. The brand is directly competing with fast food giants like McDonald's, appealing to budget-conscious diners. The "Fast Food Financing" theme satirizes the financial burden of rising fast food costs.

The pop-up's design, with signs proclaiming "Now You Can Eat Like a Trillionaire" and "Fast Food Prices are Out of Control!", further emphasizes this message. The accompanying video content maintains the satirical tone, mimicking over-the-top advertising tropes.

The Big QP burger is central to Chili's value proposition. One advertisement directly compares the Big QP to a smaller, unnamed quarter-pound burger, highlighting its larger size and better value.

Beyond the physical pop-up, the campaign extended online. Chili's offered gift card giveaways on X (formerly Twitter) and created a dedicated microsite where users could "apply for financing" through a humorous interactive experience.

This isn't Chili's first foray into value-driven marketing. Last year, the brand launched the Big Smasher Burger as part of its 3 For Me value menu. That campaign featured a retro video game where players could "smash" a fictional fast food syndicate.

Chili's aggressive marketing approach, focusing on value and affordability, appears to be paying off. The company reported significant year-over-year sales growth, attributed in part to these campaigns and popular menu items like the Triple Dipper.