10 Creative Restaurant Sandwich Boards

October 11, 2022

10 Creative Restaurant Sandwich Boards

How To Stop Diners In Their Tracks

When WhatsApp suggested it might share personal details with Facebook for marketing purposes, it inadvertently highlighted an intense dislike by its users for unsolicited advertising. Since most of us use ad blockers on our laptop, it’s obviously a common gripe. We don’t like our attention being diverted by unwanted sales pitches. This raises an interesting problem facing restaurants and many small businesses. How do they raise their profile when an increasing number of advertising methods seem to have lost their appeal?

Studies published by the New York State Small Business Development (NYSSBD) show that signage, including sandwich boards, can have a significant impact on impulse stops at restaurants. Although the studies were focused on car users, pedestrians are also affected in the same manner.

With the right message, a potential customer can literally be stopped in their tracks. Even if the daily number of passers-by is limited, a creative sandwich board can still reach an audience of thousands. That level of publicity is priceless and achieved at negligible cost. How is this possible? Through the mass appeal of social media. Let’s look at ten boards that became sensations and boosted business to discover why they worked.

Advertising Magic

The Artillery Arms pub in east London was broken into in the early hours of a Sunday morning in 2016. Later that morning the manager put out a sandwich board to explain the police tape and posted a photo of the board on Facebook. The picture was quickly picked up on social media, getting over 5,000 Reddit upvotes in two days. This ingenious way of turning a disaster into a marketing gift raised the profile of this relatively obscure pub, even gaining coverage in national newspapers.

The 1369 Coffee Shop in Cambridge, Boston, uses an artist to create its sandwich boards. Tim Wells has been responsible for some stunning boards, attracting customers from far and wide due to the quality of the artwork and the wit in the captions. Many of these creative boards went viral on social media, but one notable example was based on the Harry Potter franchise. With a drawing of Ron Weasley attempting magic but incurring the anger of Hermione Granger, the board caught the attention of the local Harry Potter fan club. Images of the board were soon being shared around the country. Wells’ creative boards are so original that several have appeared on positive Yelp reviews.

Who Cares About Online Reviews?

The beauty of sandwich boards is their flexibility. Some restaurants simply put out their latest menu hoping to entice pedestrians in the immediate vicinity. Others rely on the power of online advertising, perhaps through social media. Posts on Yelp and Facebook have contributed to the success of many businesses but not every restaurant is able to attract positive comments, especially in its early days. The owner of the board shown below presumably struggled to get much coverage on Yelp, so decided to make up their own restaurant review. Publicity followed.

Yelp has become both a boon and a curse to restaurant owners. A good review can boost business whereas a nasty comment can have the opposite effect. Joe Dough Sandwich Shop in New York used the negative publicity to their advantage. This board soon became an online hit, gaining them more publicity than they received on Yelp.

Risky Humor

Humor can play a large part in the success of a sandwich board’s popularity, but is best employed with caution as it can be a two-edged sword. In today’s era of political correctness, it is all too easy to cause offense and what one person finds hilarious will make another cringe. Knowing your target audience will help and appealing to their particular sense of humor can be successful.

Like humor the use of news items needs careful consideration. Inoffensive stories can be used to good effect, especially if they are current and popular. Some stories remain in the media for months, particularly those that touch on sensitive topics. Using these carries risk but some restaurant owners feel the benefit outweighs the risk. A similar message to the one below, but badly worded, caused sufficient trouble in Indiana that it was removed.

Trending Now…

Social media trends can be as fickle as news items but are also great ways of gaining online coverage. Cheese was a trending topic some time ago. While the Eurythmics may have their own views on the quality of the prose, dozens of restaurants, coffee shops and delicatessens around the world leapt on the bandwagon.

At the moment, bacon is fashionable. (If you don’t know why, please don’t ask). Board writers are not missing the creative opportunities presented by this unusual popularity. The rhyming bacon board is unusual enough to attract attention, but would everyone be aware of the cleverness of the message? Even if not, the familiarity of the original poem should be enough for people to stop and read the revised wording.

Too often, a clever board appears on social media only to be quickly copied. The same message loses its appeal when seen outside eating places all over town. Fortunately, businesses like the Queens Kickshaw in New York can be relied upon not only to follow trends but also regularly update their board with original artwork. Forget bacon – it’s now all about Pokemon.

Advertising wisdom suggests power through brevity. Sandwich boards can suffer from an over-enthusiastic artist or a wordy poet. The alternative is absolute simplicity. This board has a message so succinct that everyone understands.

Creativity Opens Doors – Yours

To be effective, a sandwich board must attract attention and be memorable. If the board goes viral on social media, it may create national awareness of the establishment which is a bonus. Such responses may not be common, so if the board simply stops a passer-by it has done its work.

A FedEx survey said that 76% of American consumers entered a store for the first time based on an outdoor sign. The lesson is clear. Creative sandwich boards, when combined with great food and superb service, will bring diners into a restaurant. Start writing!