restaurants

Applebee's, Buffalo Wild Wings, Hooters Winging It For Super Bowl Fans


It’s been a while since the last chicken sandwich melee, so why not wage war with wings?

For Applebee’s and Hooters, it’s a conflict designed to drive Super Bowl Sunday revenue and traffic, while Buffalo Wild Wings is hedging its bet with a possible giveaway that won’t happen until Feb. 17.

BWW was the first out of the coop on Jan. 21, with the news that it will provide “free wings for America” if the Super Bowl goes into overtime on Feb. 2. The catch was that the chain’s free-wings offering wouldn’t take place until two weeks after the game.

This wasn’t lost on Hooters, which on Jan. 24 pecked back publicly by offering “instant gratification” in the form of six free wings to diners who are on premises when and if the Super Bowl goes into overtime.

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“No need to set a calendar reminder. No need to leave work early,” Hooters announced in a reference to BWW’s 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. window on Feb. 17 for its possible wings handout.

Also on Jan. 24, Applebee’s announced it will be parting with “up to 1.6 million” boneless wings regardless of who wins the Super Bowl. It will give 40 boneless wings to patrons who order at least $40 worth of food — for delivery only — on game day.  

It’s the second year that sports bar operator BBW has taken bets on overtime, with the 2019 matchup between the Los Angeles Rams and the New England Patriots coming within 15 minutes of overtime play. “Football fans love to have fun with our established connection to overtime, tweeting at us any time a game goes to extra time,” the chain’s chief marketing officer, Seth Freeman, said in a statement.

A current advertising campaign features noted psychic Cathy Burroughs, who has lit up social media for BBW with her uncanny accuracy in picking the outcomes of professional football matchups by reading tarot cards.

The National Chicken Council recently projected that people will eat a record 1.4 billion chicken wings during Super Bowl LIV weekend.

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