Promotion of the Month - Salsa dares customers to eat crickets, sells 21,000 pieces
Seasoned and deep fried.
Salsa's Fresh Mex Grill served up some fresh crickets the whole month of March and dared Australians to eat the insect for a chance to win $5,000.
Added on to the menu and made available at all stores nationwide were Brown Crickets (Acheta Domestica), offering up a tin of five crickets for $5.
According to Jess Thomas, Retail Marketing Manager at Salsa's, the crickets are known to have originated from Southern Europe or the Middle East, but was bred specially for Salsa’s at a farm in Queensland, where they were deep fried and seasoned with sea salt.
They partnered up with a Queensland farmer with a 6.5 acre property in Tallebudgera Valley, Gold Coast, and put into operation the largest breeding program of crickets within Australia.
The cricket initiative was inspired by a trip to Mexico taken by Salsa's General Manager Jake Spencer.
"Here, crickets are an authentic and staple part of the Mexican diet and are referred to as ‘chapulines’, and enjoyed regularly as a beer snack. As a brand committed to delivering fresh, authentic Mexican cuisine with a modern twist, Salsa’s Fresh Mex wanted to replicate this popular Mexican snack," recounted Thomas.
"80% of the world eat insects with pleasure, so Salsa’s thought it was time Australia embrace crickets too."
The Mexican chain also noted that crickets are endorsed by A-list celebrity couple Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, who admit their children ‘eat crickets like Doritos.'
"[Crickets are] full of nutritional value and could come to be a common item on the dinner table in the future," the added.
To make things more exciting, Salsa's added an incentive to every customer willing to try the crickets, offering a $5,000 cash prize to those who documents themselves eating the insects.
"After the success of last year’s 'Beat The Heat', the world’s hottest burrito challenge, Salsa’s were confident that their customers and the public would be up for something a little bit different and new," explained Thomas.
The campaign, dubbed as "Crunch the Cricket," was simultaneously held on Facebook to reach its target consumer, and for the contest to be easily accessible and interactive for them.
To enter, customers had to purchase the tin of crickets, take a photo or video of themselves "crunching the cricket,' upload it on the contest website (www.crunchthecricket.com), and share it on Facebook to get votes.
200 people submitted pictures and videos of themselves, and over 16,000 votes were casted.
The campaign managed to sell 21,000 crickets.
Winner Kellie Davison from Queensland was awarded the prize money after receiving the highest number of votes.
