Truett Cathy's First Publicity Stunt 'B.C.'

Truett Cathy's book Eat Mor Chikin Inspire More People offers many pearls of wisdom, including valuable tips for entrepreneurs.

Today we want to highlight one of the things Cathy mentions that is a good example of one of the 64 promotional tools we discussed here in August.

One of the tools we suggested you use to generate critically important word-of-mouth publicity was publicity stunts. As a reminder, we said that you must be very careful with stunts because they can easily backfire.

Stunts come in many forms and can feature amazing acts or using dramatic messages or visuals that present a paradox. Cathy's idea was somewhat a combination of both.

In 1961 after he invented his chicken sandwich, he invited the publishers of competing newspapers in Forest Park, Ga., to come to his restaurant and try his new sandwich. The businessmen "barely spoke to each other," and "their long-standing feud was widely known," Cathy writes.

He asked both publishers to bring a photographer. His goal was to produce a newspaper ad with a picture of the bitter rivals shaking hands after eating his new sandwich, agreeing that it was the best chicken sandwich they had ever eaten.

His idea easily could have backfired. When the men arrived, they had no idea the other man would be there. He told the newspaper men that he would buy a full-page ad in both newspapers if they would sit at the same booth and eat his sandwich and then pose for a picture shaking hands. Both men agreed, and the rest is history.

Cathy's ad called it the first thing the two rivals had agreed on. The ad was very successful, Cathy says, and he gained national exposure years later when famous TV-preacher Robert Schuller invited Cathy to share the story on his Sunday-morning Hour of Power broadcast. Schuller also included the story in his book The Be (Happy) Attitudes under "Blessed are the peacemakers."

It was Cathy's first publicity stunt B.C. (before cows). A few years later he heard that Lady Bird Johnson would be making a whistle-stop tour through Georgia. He arranged to serve his chicken sandwich to the First Lady and her entourage. KFC founder Harlan Sanders also visited and tried his sandwich. They continued to "take advantage of every public relations opportunity," he writes.

Don't forget the other tools we discussed for generating word-of-mouth publicity: volunteering to give speeches to civic and professional organizations, speaking to your local city council or school board, community relations, offering community seminars and training, and getting involved in civic, professional and non-profit organizations that interest you.

We recently read the latest Best of Little Rock list looking for the best hamburger and milkshake in town, and that prompts us to offer this tip for entrepreneurs. Promotional tool #65: Get your friends, family and customers to nominate your business for the Best of ... lists featured in your local newspapers, magazines and websites.