Posted by PR Wonk under Blizzard on May 19th, 2010
Every year around May 1, Warren Buffett, CEO of Berkshire Hathaway and owner of the Dairy Queen® system, holds his annual shareholder’s meeting in Omaha, Neb. However, this is no stuffy board room kind of meeting. Dubbed “the Woodstock for capitalists,” Buffett draws more than 40,000 of his shareholders to the Qwest Center to partake in his annual meeting. As members of the Berkshire Hathaway family, the DQ® brand, along with his other holdings such as Coke, M&Ms/Mars, GEICO, See’s Candies, Fruit of the Loom, etc., host booths where we display and sell various items or services to attendees. Traditionally we sell more than 13,000 Dilly® Bars, DQ Fudge Bars and DQVanilla Orange bars for $1 each, with proceeds going to benefit Children’s Miracle Network.
At this year’s meeting, seeing that it was the Blizzard® Treat’s 25th birthday, we brought the Blizzardmobile to Omaha. The reception we received was amazing, and for this one-day event, we made and sold more than 8,000 Mini Blizzard Treats in addition to the other DQ treats we sell annually. Shareholders went wild for the Mini Blizzards, and helped us sell out of everything we had to offer by the end of the day.
Having been a part of these meetings since 1998, when American Dairy Queen Corporation was acquired by Berkshire Hathaway, this year’s event was easily the biggest and most exciting for us by far. We raised more than $18,000 for Children’s Hospitals and got the opportunity to talk with thousands of DQ fans who love our products and brand.
As a system, we are known for creating “Smiles and Stories.” At this year’s meeting, the smiles seemed to be a bit wider and I’m sure many left for home with a Blizzard Treat, or Dilly Bar, in hand and a story to tell about our one-of-a-kind party machine on wheels.
Somewhere amidst the throng of media is Mr. Buffett as he tries to purchase a DQ treat at our booth.
Found him! Despite the horde, Mr. Buffett always makes his way to our booth to enjoy a DQ Vanilla Orange Bar prior to the meeting.
Hey fans! The coolest, treat-making, party-machine on wheels, aka, the Blizzardmobile is making its way across the U.S. and Canada this summer in celebration of the Blizzard treat’s 25th Birthday. If you’ve been to any of the party stops so far and experienced BlizzMo in person, then you know how sweet this thing really is. For those of you who haven’t actually seen it yet, you can find out when it will be coming to a city near you by clicking here. Check out the Making of the Blizzardmobile to see how it came to life.
Hey fans! If you thought your family was crazy about Blizzard treats, you may have met your match. There’s a family named the Blizzmanns who are so crazy about Blizzard treats that they dropped everything, hopped in their car, and took off in search of the Blizzardmobile. Their sole mission is to catch up with BlizzMo and experience it in all its tasty glory. Check out their videos from the road to watch their adventure unfold!
The green shirts are coming! The green shirts are coming!
The lines above were not taken from the legendary Paul Revere (He was screaming about red shirts anyway. I know this, and I was a “C” student in History class). No, I’m talking about the small army of DQ employees that descended upon the Quest Center in Omaha last week for the annual Berkshire Hathaway shareholders meeting. All together, there were 52 team members on hand that pitched in to make our event a success (that’s more people than the Costa Rican army…seriously, look it up). And each team member was outfitted in a beautiful asparagus green shirt as selected by my main man, DQ Director of PR, Dean Peters. And that’s not a knock on my man Dean. I for one look absolutely stunning in asparagus but that’s not what this post is about.
No, this post is about all of the hard work that the DQ team put-in to make the event a success. Unlike the usual 25th Birthday Party Tour events, the team sold Blizzard treats rather than giving them away in an effort to raise money for Children’s Miracle Network. And with an estimated 40,000 shareholders in attendance at an event that featured one of America’s favorite treats, this was no easy undertaking. Even John Gainor, President and CEO of Dairy Queen, pitched in and sold Dilly Bars for a few hours to help the cause. And after all of the hard work, we are proud to announce that the team raised over $15,000 for CMN last weekend, a substantial amount to say the least.
With all of the fun, music and an appearance by the now world-famous BlizzMo, the DQ display was clearly the belle of the ball. We were even paid a visit by Warren Buffett himself, who stopped by to buy a few Dilly Bars. While at the display, Warren even took a few photos inside BlizzMo before jumping in the Blizzard Blaster. The videos are now posted on YouTube as well as the Dairy Queen Facebook page, so I suggest checking them out for your next web surfing session. And in case you’re wondering, yes, the Blizzard Blaster still smells like money. Thanks Warren.
So thank you again to all of the DQ employees that pitched in last week and helped to make our event a success. We should do that again…next year.
Hey fans! The Blizzardmobile has been on the road for over a month now in celebration of the Blizzard treat’s 25th birthday. It will be traveling across North America through August, serving up free Mini Blizzard treats to fans along the way. That’s right, I said FREE! The Mini Blizzard isn’t even available in stores until August, but if you go to any of the Blizzard Birthday Party Tour stops, you can get an exclusive taste. Click here to find out when BlizzMo will be stopping at city near you! Here are some of the great photos that were taken over the past month on the Tour. To see more photos from each party stop, click here.
Posted by PR Wonk under Blizzard on April 19th, 2010
The Blizzard®moble 25-city tour took the Big Apple by storm on April 8-9. More than a few heads turned as our one-of-a-kind vehicle drove down the infamous streets of Manhattan, bringing countless smiles to the faces of New Yorkers who clamored for free Mini Blizzard Treats, which will debut in stores this August.
Our first stop was on the Fox and Friends morning news show. The Blizzardmobile was parked on their plaza handing out free Mini Blizzard Treats to anyone who walked by. Caressa Cameron, the 2010 Miss America and Children’s Miracle Network (CMN) goodwill ambassador was on the air promoting our tour, which is raising funds for sick and injured children everywhere it stops.
Later that day, the vehicle and party moved to Madison Square Park where we handed out more than 600 Blizzard Flavor Treats to hungry NYC citizens. Many asked, “When are you going to open a location in Mid-Town?” Although we could only answer, “soon, we hope,” and ask if they were interested in opening a DQ® franchise, we joked and laughed as they enjoyed their OREO® Blizzard Treats.
As many of you might already know we launched a new DairyQueen.com site in late January and the tagline we used for it is “How Do You DQ®?” Well, the other day a franchisee sent us a photo that we use within our stores from a Dairy Queen® store in Hot Springs, Ark. back in 1951. The picture depicts a celebration at the local Dairy Queen store as it was unveiling the installation of a new mechanical clown called “Curly, the Curly-Topped Clown.” But, he also attached a photo from April 2, 2010, of the Blizzard®mobile making a stop at the local Dairy Queen restaurant in Burlington, Wis., and the stir it caused. I think the tagline he used could not of said it any better! “We still got it!”
Check out the photos below:
Thanks to all of our raving Dairy Queen fans! You are the #1 reason why we are still around after 70 years!
Our last post announced the Blizzardmobile tour (It’s a Bird, It’s a Plane… It’s the Blizzardmobile!). Today we bring you some highlights from the tour’s official launch last weekend in Milwaukee, Wis. Check out the video featuring Chad, the official 25th Birthday Tour emcee, and watch this space for more to come!
Make sure you continue to follow the tour on Facebook! Not signed up for Facebook yet? That’s okay–all of our content on Facebook is VISIBLE to everyone!
What has red spoon windshield wipers, red lips on the front grill, upside-down Blizzard® cups for rear-view mirrors and the ability to create a snowstorm wherever it goes?
Here’s a hint:
It’s the DQ®Blizzard®mobile! Our fully-functional brand mobile is currently touring the United States and Canada, visiting 25 cities from April to August, with approximately three stops per city.
All stops include handing out FREE world-famous Blizzard Treats in the brand-new Mini size (the Mini Blizzard Treat will be available in DQ locations this summer), as well as music and emcee interaction. Some events will also include the Blizzard Blaster–a giant, upside-down inflatable Blizzard cup with coupons swirling around inside. A person can go inside the blaster to try to grab coupons. And the forecast calls for snow flurries–the Blizzardmobile comes equipped with its own snow-making machine!
There is even a fundraising component during the Blizzardmobile tour for Children’s Miracle Network (CMN). CMN canisters will travel with the vehicle to collect donations throughout the tour, and the last two stops–on Aug. 5 in Minneapolis and Aug. 12 in Calgary, Alberta–will take place on Miracle Treat Day (MTD) in each country. On MTD, participating DQ operators donate $1 or more to their local CMN Hospital for every Blizzard Treat they sell in their stores.
For anyone not able to witness the Blizzardmobile in person, check out the DQ Facebook page. It will include photos, tour stop information, videos, commercials, webisodes and much more. Other elements on the DQ Facebook fan page include a “Capture the Cup” photo challenge, a Facebook “Photo Grid” where you can to tag your friends as the Blizzard Treat that best represents them, and the “Pick Five,” in which you choose your top five Blizzard flavors. Go to http://www.facebook.com/dairyqueen now to get all the details!
