Famous Toastery, the better breakfast franchise, has elevated the most important meal of the day with its craft product and dedication to fresh ingredients and friendly service, leading to incredible growth over the past three years. To celebrate the holidays with its loyal Facebook followers, the fast-growing brand launched a timely and fun social media partnership with professional pancake artist Dancakes.
Becoming a professional pancake artist making custom designs for big restaurant brands wasn’t in Dan Drake’s plans. After he graduated from high school, Drake didn’t know what to do with his life so he took a job as a fry cook at a local diner in St Louis. One day, he tried making art out of pancakes to drum up additional tips, and got hooked after earning a $15 tip for his first creation. Five years later, a Facebook photo went viral, ultimately landing Drake a segment on the Today Show in 2013. With this momentum, and best friend Hank Gustafson getting on board, Dancakes was born. Since then, Dancakes has worked with major brands like Disney, Denny’s, IHOP, Taco Bell, Netflix, Twitter and Hulu – and is thrilled to add Famous Toastery to its list.
“Pancake artistry is a rare new medium and people don’t know what to expect,” said Drake. “We’re excited to immortalize nostalgic holiday moments in pancakes and partner with a brand that is as excited about pancakes as we are. ”
The campaign started on December 5th, featuring eight holiday characters: Frosty the Snowman, Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, Santa Claus, Ebenezer Scrooge, Buddy the Elf, Kevin McAllister from Home Alone, Clark Griswold and The Grinch. Famous Toastery and Dancakes’ Facebook fans can vote for their favorite pancake in the first two rounds to enter to win prizes like Dancakes swag, stickers and gift cards to Famous Toastery, with the third and final round awarding the winner a mini iPad and a personalized Dancakes pancake portrait.
“2016 has been an incredible year of growth for Famous Toastery – and we wanted to provide our loyal Facebook fans with a fun and rewarding way to celebrate the holidays and end the year on a high note with us,” said Robert Maynard, CEO of Famous Toastery. “These playful pancake creations align with our breakfast-focused brand and allow us to recognize one of our loyal fans with a personalized pancake portrait.”
As Famous Toastery looks to 2017, the brand has even bigger growth plans in mind, with 10 units set to open and a goal of signing 20 more franchise agreements for 50 more locations.