The summer is an interesting time. Some people work, some do absolutely nothing, some have a lot of fun and some become heroes.
This summer, I became a hero.
While in the car with my parents going to BurgerFi, a hamburger chain famous for their burgers and milkshakes, I realized that my favorite burger place, Five Guys, does not serve milkshakes. This realization caused me to tweet, “@Five_Guys why don’t you serve milkshakes? I think everyone would welcome that addition with open arms.”
Little did I know that this one tweet would change my life and the lives of those in the community.
That one tweet led to this back and forth:
Five Guys: “@AndrewLief44 We actually have milkshakes in select locations! For more information visit http://www.fiveguys.com/milkshakes.”
Me: “@Five_Guys When do you think they’ll be everywhere?”
Five Guys: “@AndrewLief44 I wish I could tell you!”
Me: “@Five_Guys I think adding them to the one in Merrick, N.Y. would be awesome!”
While I was hopeful, at the time I didn’t think this interaction would do anything. After my last tweet, I got a few favorites and retweets from my friends thinking the interaction was funny, but that was it. Little did I know that soon, my life would become so much sweeter.
Ten days later was my first time at Five Guys since the Twitter interaction. When I entered I looked up and saw something different. I saw a giant sign with a header that read, “MILKSHAKES.”
I’ve never smiled more than when I read that sign. It showed me that all three of the tweets I sent to Five Guys really paid off.
What was even better than seeing that they now had milkshakes, were the options they now give their customers. All of their shakes are vanilla with the customer’s choice of whipped cream or no whipped cream. You can add coffee, chocolate, cherry, strawberry, peanut butter, malted milk, salted caramel, banana, Double Stuf Oreos or bacon.
Yes, I said bacon. How awesome is that? The fine upper-level folks at Five Guys clearly know that everything is better with bacon.
Another great call by the management of Five Guys was having their Oreo shakes be Double Stuf and not single stuf. This was just great decision making because anyone with a pulse knows that Double Stuf Oreos are better than single stuf. Double the stuf means double the fun, and that’s what Five Guys is all about.
Friends, if you’re going to take anything from this column, let it be these two things. One, milkshakes are awesome and you should have one any chance you can. And two, don’t be scared. You can utilize social media as a tool for the greater good. If you think of an amazing idea and want to tweet it at the social media account of the company or franchise, do it.
The worst thing that will happen is that they don’t respond. Best case is that you become a hero, like me, and allow everyone who attends your local Five Guys to now be able to enjoy a nice, refreshing milkshake with their meal.