Here’s where to score the best deals on a hugely popular snack.
You may not have heard of National Chicken Wing Day until you read this sentence but, to fast-food companies, it has evolved into a lucrative marketing opportunity.
The day, observed on July 29th, came into being in 1977 when the then-mayor of Buffalo, New York officially made it a thing as a way to draw national attention to a city that claims to have invented the sweet-and-sour buffalo wing sauce.
But those prone to kvetching about how there’s now “a holiday for anything and everything” will ultimately be won over by the number of giveaways and promotions taking place this Friday.
Buffalo Wild Wings (BWLD) is giving away six free wings with a purchase of at least $10 at one of its stores.
“What’s the best way to eat wings? Buffalo Wild Wings asked the followers on its Instagram account. “[…] You can weigh in by ordering 6 free wings on National Chicken Wing Day.”
Ohio-based Charleys Philly Cheesesteaks is taking $2 off all orders of wings and $5 off of larger 30- and 50-piece orders.
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Casual restaurant chain Hooters is tacking on 10 free boneless wings to every order of regular chicken wings while convenience store 7-Eleven is bringing down the price of its 10-piece chicken wings to $10.
Another chain known nationally for its wings, the Addison, Texas-based Wingstop (WING) – Get Wingstop Inc. Report is scrapping delivery fees and giving away 10 free boneless wings with a purchase through Wingstop.com or the Wingstop app on July 29, 2022.
And just to show it’s not just for fast food fans, Perdue Farms is offering National Chicken Wing Day Celebration Bundle of nine pounds of wing sections, drummettes and mid joints that you can grill or fry yourself for $49.99 instead of the original $59.97.
The Trend Here is Marketing
If you’ve been following the industry long enough, you’ll immediately notice a number of key trends — many of the deals are only available on the chain’s site or app in what is by now a years-long effort to drive more of its customers onto their app.
Long before this year’s Chicken Wing Day, the strategy of offering customers something they can only get online has generally proved a sound one.
Apptopia research found that, after launching the Taco Lovers’ Pass, Yum! Brands YUM-owned Taco Bell saw its subscriptions soar to 1.4 million last January.
But online efforts aside, there is a reason why you’re seeing so many “days” for foods, pets and anything else you can think of — spinning into something big is directly in the interests of companies that sell, in this case, chicken wings even as inflation and supply shortages sends the price of this food skyrocketing.
Between 2021 and 2022, a pound of chicken rose in price by 17.4%.
“This shortage got me thinking about why wings are scarce, but other parts of the chicken, such as the leg, thigh, and breast, are not. After all, there are four wing pieces (two flats, two drums) on every chicken,” Jonathan Heller wrote for TheStreet’s RealMoney in October. “Didn’t take the genius too long to realize that wings are smaller than other parts of the chicken and consumed in bigger quantities.”lj
