Got a dollar? That’ll buy four sliders at White Castle in May. Even though the special deal is available throughout the month, you’ll have to time it carefully to take advantage.
If there’s one universally accepted truth in fast food, it’s that cheap deals drive sales. That’s why Wendy’s has revamped its value menu, introducing a range of items priced under the $2 mark, and why McDonald’s regularly tweaks its dollar menu.
While many fast-food chains offer sandwiches for just $1, White Castle customers can get four sliders at that price with the company’s latest promotion. Throughout May, which is supposedly being celebrated as “National Hamburger Month,” White Castle is hosting what it’s dubbed the “Slider-Bration,” in which sliders are priced at just 25¢ apiece.
Don’t think for a second that you’ll be able to swing by any old White Castle anytime in May for 25¢ burgers, however. Instead, White Castle announced that “24 hours a day, seven days a week, a different White Castle restaurant will be hosting a two-hour long Slider-bration.” Guests have access to 25¢ sliders only during each location’s specified two-hour time window—which could be 2 a.m to 4 a.m. at your local White Castle. When the deal is on, customers are also limited to ordering a maximum of 10 sliders, which is probably a good thing for all parties involved.
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White Castle will happily send alerts to customers who want to know the latest on which location is taking its turn at selling sliders for a quarter for a couple of hours—a couple of hours that promise to be pretty darn chaotic for each restaurant.
The short-lived quality of this promotion makes it easier for each White Castle franchise to handle. Individual McDonald’s restaurant owners have been known to grumble about being forced to go along with cheap promotions indefinitely. Franchisees make little or no money on certain dollar menu items, and the existence of, say, a $1 double cheeseburger hurts sales of quarter-pounders priced at over $3.
White Castle restaurant owners may wind up losing money during the 25¢ slider promotion, but at least it’ll be over and done with in a mere two hours. And there will probably be some spillover, with customers who show up just after the deal ends and decide to order burgers at full price. The 25¢ promotion helps expose the brand to a wide range of consumers as well, of course, which (in theory) can help boost sales long after the deal has ended.
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White Castle isn’t the only burger chain with a special offer during National Hamburger Month. Max & Erma’s, which has 72 locations in 10 states (mostly around the Great Lakes region), is introducing one new specialty burger each week in May, and on Memorial Day, May 27, each guest will receive a free slider with any beverage purchase. The company expects to give out 12,000 sliders this Memorial Day, up from 11,000 during a similar promotion last year.
Also, according to QSR Magazine, the fast-casual chain Smashburger will be giving away free Classic Smash burgers on May 28 — but only to customers with some variation of the word “burger” in their last name. People named “Burger” and “Berger” qualify, as do guests with last names such as Weinberger and Rosenberger. Bring ID.