One way to get great public relations coverage is to come up with a stunt that’s visually appealing and gets you on the news. Think of the annual Fourth of July hot dog eating contests or KFC covering water hydrants with their logo and hot wing decals.
One restaurant chain out of Massachusetts, Ninety Nine Restaurants, just hit one out of the park by building a 3,999 pound (yup, that’s pound!) nacho and getting a lot of media covering the story. To top it off, they’re also giving some of their proceeds to the Boys & Girls Club of America, which is always a good thing to do in the industry.
One way to always make news in the PR world is to come up with something that’s BIGGER, BETTER or BADDER (demerits for grammar). And this was big in a big way! Not only was this mother ship of a nacho bigger, but all the ingredients in nacho land made for a perfect photo opp – nachos layered with cheese, guacamole, tomatoes, cilantro, red onions and sour cream. It’s basically 3,999 pounds of chewy, gooey goodness.
And the restaurant chain knew that they would break the Guinness World Record for biggest nacho by breaking the scale. The Bay State topped Texas as the biggest nacho maker by oozing past the Texas record of 3,555 pounds. So, I guess things aren’t always bigger in Texas.
But, here’s the catch. Because the monster nacho was made outside over a couple of weeks and not in optimal conditions, the local health department deemed it inedible. So, it looks like the nacho is going to nacho Never Never Land. One thing in PR that trumps all other best practices is to never, ever get the health department on your case. Maybe Hefty should make a bag big enough to hold a 3,999 pound nacho and the Brawny guy can haul it away.