Have you ever been to Sonic Drive In? They have lots of yummy treats on the menu - great burgers, shakes, malts, slushees, and cheesy tater tots. mmmm.
I've seen them in the south near where I have family - Atlanta, Hot Springs, Memphis. But I've never seen one in Chicago.
Nevertheless, they advertise like crazy in my market. TV, radio, the whole bit. And finally, after the requisite number of impressions or an overwhelming interest in chili fries, I went to their website to have a look and see just how far I'd have to go to find one. After all, if they're advertising in my area, they must have one nearby, right? It's "America's Drive In"
Nope. In fact, according to their Sonic Locator, the nearest one to me is in Peoria, which is over 185 miles away. Are they kidding? It might be America's Drive In, but it ain't Chicago's.
I'm not sure the point here. As a potential customer, the ads leave me feeling slighted and a bit taunted. Like ha ha, no Sonic for you. And I can't help but wondering how much money they're wasting. Sure, I know they buy blocks on networks that include their entire distribution area. But this smacks of pure advertising laziness. I honestly can live with the fact that their business model must not include Chicago. But to advertise here anyway?
So I'm actually motivated to go back to the website and comment to someone about their flirtation with us Sonic-hungry folks in Chicago. And I've looked all over the site. Their contact us page has a phone number, which no one answered save for some automated recordings about franchise ownership. No email. No contact form. These days, I can't possibly understand why someone wouldn't make it easy for the outside world to get in touch with them through their website. Yikes!
So, friends at Sonic. While I still feel like a chocolate malt or a raspberry slushie delivered to me by a carhop is a thing of beauty, I'm not driving to Peoria. And when and if you decide to be nearer to me, I'll be thinking twice about whether to bother then, either. I may just try my hand at cheesy tater tots from my own oven. So there.
1 comment:
We have Sonics all over the place where I live and I can't go to a one of them due to this diet I'm on. But, I will FedEx you a burger, fries and a shake if you'd like. :-)
Regarding their ads, it would suit me if they didn't run down here either. I'm sick of them! I just want to hurt those two guys in the commercials.
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