In October 2023, Applebee’s, America’s largest casual-dining chain, brought back the “Dollarita” – its signature $1 margarita – after a much-anticipated, four-year hiatus. The Dollarita returned for one month only. Towards the end of the month, an earthquake occurred in San Francisco, California. Local Applebee’s patron, Steve Mazzari was interviewed about the earthquake but instead used airtime to reinforce his love for “Slammin’ Dollaritas.” Our objective? Seize on the cultural moment, and turn Dollarita Steve into an Applebee’s influencer.

We turned Dollarita Steve into an Applebee’s influencer, local hero, and the Zaddy San Fran never knew it needed – by signing him to a deal with Applebee’s and extending the Dollarita for another month. In his honor. In his own neighborhood of Fisherman’s Wharf, San Francisco.

The Dollarita is Applebee’s most loved promotion, probably ever. Even with a four-year hiatus, Dollarita remained top of mind. In fact, social conversation about Dollarita remained at 75% of what it was when the drink was around. And no matter what Applebee’s posted on social media, someone would undoubtedly comment, “Bring back Dollarita.” So to capitalize on Dollarita Steve in a way that was relevant to our audience, we knew exactly what to do: extend the Dollarita for a little longer in San Francisco. In Steve’s honor, of course.

Realizing Dollarita Steve was a walking billboard for Dollarita, we immediately signed him to a deal and let him do whatever we wanted. No, really.

He kept being spontaneous and true to his own viral fame, which brought even more internet and news attention. As his fame peaked, we extended the Dollarita promotion for the month of November at his hometown Applebee’s.

We made the extension announcement through an Instagram post in the style of an epic movie poster featuring Steve, a Dollarita, and his San Francisco neighborhood landscape. The post was accompanied by a simple but powerful caption: “To honor the fact that nothing could keep Dollarita Steve from enjoying his Dollaritas, we extended the Dollarita for the month of November at his hometown Applebee’s.”

We turned Dollarita Steve into a branded influencer:

-1/3 of news stories mentioning Dollarita mentioned Dollarita Steve (Quid)

-Dollarita Steve featured on Fox, KTLA, Eater, BuzzFeed, Barstool Sports and more

-Dollarita Steve started a Cameo channel and charges $15 per video

-We ushered in new, younger Applebee’s customers, many who visited Applebee’s for the first time (2023 Q4 earnings)

-93% menu upsell with purchase of Dollarita (2023 Q4 earnings)

Which ultimately made Dollarita bigger news than an earthquake:

-380M impressions (for $0 Dollars!) (PR agency)

- +381K social reach (# of people that have seen/heard about Applebee’s Dollarita, PR agency)

-2.2x more articles written about Dollarita Steve than the San Francisco earthquake during the week it happened (Quid)

-250% increase in “Dollarita” social mentions during the week of Dollarita Steve’s interview (vs. the week prior) (Brandwatch)

-2243% increase in Google searches for Dollarita (Google Trends, 2022 vs. 2023)