Tag Archives: philly pretzel factory

The Real Purpose of Obscure Holidays

Once in a while, we all try to figure out where the obscure holidays of the world come from, what their true purpose is and how someone could possibly come up with something that outrageous. Just so you get where I am coming from, here are some of the more normal ones and then a few extreme holidays.
We have…World Pasta Day, Waffle Day, Left Hander’s Day, National Tequila Day, If Pet’s Had Thumbs Day, Hug a Newsman Day and of course Save the Rhino Day just to name few. But who doesn’t like a good reason to party? …Whatever that reason may be.

One thing that we know is true is that businesses see a huge influx of customers especially if they choose to celebrate one of these unique holidays that sticks to their business values. We have seen events centered around Cinco de Mayo and St. Patrick’s Day, but nothing compares to what we experienced with Philly Pretzel Factory and National Pretzel Day.

Fresh, hot and salty pretzels baked fresh ‘outta the oven… that is Philly Pretzel Factory’s specialty. And they shared them with their guests on Tuesday April 26, 2011 for National Pretzel Day where they gave a free pretzel to each of their guests all day long at their 100 + locations down the Eastern seaboard.

National Pretzel Day was founded in 1983 when Rep. Robert S. Walker of Pennsylvania declared his favorite food was deserving of a holiday. In April of 2003, Pennsylvania’s Governor Ed Rendell joined the bandwagon by re-declaring the unofficial national holiday celebrating all that the pretzel has done for the state.

Not only did they gain some major social media kudos points from all of their loyal fans as they posted photos all day long with their free pretzels, but they also secured some pretty awesome local and national television segments. In addition, each location participated in this unique holiday and their franchisees were able to be featured on a local level focusing on the nation’s oldest snack, the pretzel. As we saw throughout the day, fellow Philly Pretzel fans were more than happy to stop by their favorite pretzel shop in town for some snacks all day long in addition to their free pretzel.

By leveraging these obscure holidays, companies like Philly Pretzel Factory can place their product directly in the home of the consumer by utilizing both TV and print media.

JordyA Blog Post By: Jordy Patano (@jordypatano)
Jordy is a Public Relations Account Executive at No Limit and has a dog the size of a small horse. Seriously, he’s huge.

Puck Drop and Social Media

If you have ever met me, you would know within five seconds that I have an unhealthy obsession with the sport of hockey. The NHL dropped the puck on another season last night and our very own Atlanta Thrashers will open their season tonight (of course I have tickets…). Since hockey has been on my mind for about six months (Atlanta doesn’t have the greatest of teams and has had a long summer due to their absence in the playoffs) I decided to write my blog about hockey.

The NHL is a unique specimen. It has one of the largest online followings of all leagues. Many professionals point to the fact that hockey is a much more international game than say the American football, baseball, or basketball. The league has always been on the forefront of social networking, blogging, and communications. This will be the first season in which NHL franchises will allow select bloggers to have locker room access after games. The NHL completely re-vamped their website last year, interconnecting it with all 30 of its franchises. Users could create a log in and communicate with fans from all cities and have a central profile where they could add friends, leave comments, etc. The project was comparable to a “MySpace” exclusively for hockey lovers.

The newest project that the NHL has launched is with Foursquare. There are rumors that there will be badges given out to those that follow the NHL on Foursquare and check-in during opening weekend. No worries guys, I will have my Blackberry with me as I enter Philips Arena and will verify these said rumors, right after I grab a cold one.

Hockey season is back and the NHL is continuing to embrace social media. Two of my passions coming together, much like Philly Pretzel Factory’s Cheesesteak Pretzel.

Chadwebsite1A Blog Post By: Chad Bryant (@chadtbryant)
Chad is a member of the Social Media Squad for No Limit. He recently became a season ticket holder of the Atlanta Thrashers and will soon become the mayor of Philips Arena.