When the folks at Dairy Queen see a PR opportunity, they're all
over it like chocolate on a dipped cone.
Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban dished up the PR treat of a lifetime
recently when, during one of his frequent rants against the NBA and its
referees, he said he wouldn't hire director of officials Ed Rush to
manage a Dairy Queen.
Here's a cultural lesson for those too urbane to have acquired a taste
for Belt Busters: DQ is usually the first chain restaurant to move into
small-town Texas and serves as a primary gathering place and gossip
hub.
But many franchises have shut down their frying vats in recent
years.
DQ's communications director Dean Peters challenged Cuban to manage a
Dairy Queen for a day to prove how much skill it takes to put that
little curly Q on top of an ice cream cone. The press statement alone
was worth several thousand banana splits. The Dallas Morning News
devoted half its sports front to a DQ product layout, listing what the
$500,000 fine Cuban received would buy (561,797 Dilly Bars, for
example).
Publicity-loving Cuban professed his undying love for Blizzards and
accepted the invitation. Not only did some 1,000 customers line up
outside a Dallas-area DQ to buy burgers from the billionaire, but Today,
ESPN, CNBC and Entertainment Tonight sent crews. Tom Arnold, host of Fox
Sports Net's Best Damn Sports Show Period!, helped out behind the
counter. Peters estimates ad equivalency at $8 million-$10
million, and plans to use the stunt to build PR momentum and sales for
struggling franchises.
As for Cuban, we hope he applies the lesson he learned from DQ to his
relationship with the NBA - if you can't lick 'em, join 'em.
