As many offer free food for National Cheeseburger Day, Shake Shack shines

Cheeseburger lovers rejoice: Today is your day.

National Cheeseburger Day (or Sept. 18, as vegetarians know it) brings with it a celebration of the food item—along with a chance for marketers to offer consumers free food.

Here’s a rundown of brand managers who are taking part in delicious promotions today:

• McDonald’s is offering 100,000 free burgers through its “My Macca” app.
• BurgerFi is selling its double angus burger for $5 when you mention the deal at the register.
• Johnny Rockets is giving away a free cheeseburger to anyone who signs up for the Rocket eClub.
• Rally’s will give you a free burger if you use the coupon code “4111” when ordering.
• Wendy’s is offering a $5 smorgasbord of Jr. Bacon Cheeseburger, French fries, chicken nuggets and a drink—no coupon needed.
• White Castle is giving customers 20 percent off their cheeseburgers when they use the coupon code “save20.”
• Farmer Boys is offering a coupon through Facebook for a $1 Big Cheese:

• Applebees is selling its cheeseburger with classic fries at for $6.99

Those these deals might get a few interested customers through the door, this marketing effort screams missed opportunity. If your signature item is the cheeseburger, and a trade group or random person has taken the time to dub this day National Cheeseburger Day, wouldn’t you want to go big?

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Chains such as Five Guys, Burger King and many more didn’t even show up to the party.

If you’re a brand manager wondering whether you should take part in these cheesy, non-holidays that pertain to your industry, the answer is a resounding yes—but only if you’re going to flex your marketing muscles and do something special.

Take a page from Shake Shack’s playbook: The fast-food chain is hosting a “silent dance party” on Monday from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. Eastern time in New York’s Madison Square Park. Its selling tickets to the event for $15, which includes the price of a burger. The party boasts three live DJs spinning in separate tents.

This is what it looks like to celebrate your signature product:

Next year on National Cheeseburger Day, marketing and PR pros can offer 20 percent off or give away a few burgers here and there—or you can say, “Let’s go big and get weird. Let’s throw a silent dance party in the middle of Madison Square park!”

You’ll have to come up with a different PR stunt, though—the dance party idea is taken.

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