Everyone Wants a Prime Rib

When you think of a coyote wandering in and taking control of a restaurant for an afternoon, good publicity isn't exactly the first type of publicity that comes to mind. however, a Chicago Quiznos found a way to make it just that. This past Tuesday a one and a half year old coyote, later named Adrian, found himself walking through a propped open front door of a Quiznos location and proceeded to jump over the counter, falling short and landing in the beverage cooler. According to a mediapost article in marketing daily (http://publications.mediapost.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=Articles.showArticle&art_aid=58249), as customers scattered at the site of the wild animal invading their lunch hour, Adrian hung around for about 40 minutes. This wild animal in a public place scenario could have hurt the Quiznos chain for sure, however I for one am extremely impressed with how the situation was handled. immediately following the incident the company issued a press release quoting Quiznos' Executive Vice President/Corporate Marketing Officer Steve Provost as saying: "We've certainly been looking to expand our customer base and appeal to different demographics, and it appears that we have hit a chord with the animal kingdom. This has never happened before; we can only think that [the coyote] must have been attracted to our new Prime Rib on Garlic Bread and its above-average portions of meat. One thing is for sure, this coyote clearly has excellent taste." This move seems sheer brilliance as the potential wild animal crisis was actually turned into a light and somewhat funny advertisement for their new sandwich. Sandwich promotion aside, to make matters even better, the company donated $1000 to Chicago Animal Care and Control, where Adrian currently resides making animal activists happy as well. Thursday morning Adrian was transported to the Flint Creek Wildlife Refuge near Barrington, Ill. where he will be able to unite and roam freely with other stray urban coyotes. As a finishing touch on the crisis turned positive opportunity, Quiznos announced it was giving Adrian a farewell present--a Prime Rib on Garlic Bread sub "to go" while making sure to accentuate the fact that it was the sandwich that the coyote had "traveled far and wide for."