Now the promos are a little less sexy. That's because we're in the fast food phase of the hype cycle.
The Shake Shack hamburger chain has announced that for each purchase made with a Cash App debit card until March, it will return 15% of the total equivalent in Bitcoin to customers.
The promotion is not a response to customer outcry for cheesy cryptocurrencies, according to chief marketing officer Jay Livingston. He told The Wall Street Journal that it's an easy way to see if cryptocurrency has any traction with on-chain customers: "You always try to bet on things that will really be significant and not waste resources on things that won't."
It is not a totally new area for restaurants. In November, Robinhood and Burger King teamed up to give customers 1 Dogecoin currently trading at around 12 cents for every $5 they spend, while McDonald's has been making NFT Big Macs tastier than the real deal.
Although Shack Shack is attempting to enter the cryptocurrency space, Block is a well-established backer of Bitcoin. Under the leadership of Jack Dorsey, the company has powered Bitcoin (though not other cryptocurrency assets). Its brand Spiral (formerly Square Crypto) has released software development kits for Bitcoin and the Lightning Network, while its division TBD54566975 (yes, that's its real name) is working on a Bitcoin-based decentralized exchange.
The Cash application has been the most active of all. In addition to launching Lightning transactions in January, it has collaborated with celebrities to encourage people to buy Bitcoin through the app. Recently, for example, Oscar-winning actress and lifestyle guru Gwyneth Paltrow gave away $500,000 in the company's Bitcoin to her Instagram and Twitter followers who commented on her posts with a "$ cashtag."
Paltrow's personal brand would likely implode if caught at a Shake Shack, but the restaurant chain is nonetheless seeking to capture some of Block's social media marketing strategy to reach younger customer groups.
In that case, maybe Shack Shack should give Shiba Inu away.
First it was celebrities like Megan Thee Stallion and Aaron Rodgers offering you free Bitcoin through the Block's Cash app.
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