In Your Face: In Cincinnati, a Pie War Heats Up
Rivalry Among Pumpkin Purveyors Spiced With Pranks; Dueling Billboards
By CAROLINE PORTER
CINCINNATI—Dan and Brian Busken, of the family-owned Busken Bakery, pulled into the parking lot of a Frisch's Big Boy on a recent morning for a clandestine mission: They donned ski masks with fake mustaches attached, placed a ladder next to the restaurant's namesake statue and cloaked Big Boy in a Busken apron.
To top things off, they encased the statue's trademark burger in a Busken pie box. They then posted the maneuver on YouTube and Facebook in a video complete with fake explosions and flashes of lightning.
"I know it's not typical behavior of a CEO and a vice president," says Dan Busken, 37-year-old prankster-in-chief of the 84-year-old family business known for cheeky ad campaigns, such as a billboard telling motorists to "Have a Crumby Day" with a picture of a smiley-face cookie.
The late October makeover was a recent volley in a pumpkin pie war between the small bakery chain and the regional restaurant group. What began as a friendly rivalry has been whipped up into an escalating tit for tat, playing out in billboards, social media stunts and live-action high jinks.
Rivalries have long generated marketing battles between corporate giants. In Cincinnati, a city of about 300,000 overlooking the Ohio River, one-upmanship has its own flavor.
The town's rival chili chains, Gold Star Chili Inc. and Skyline Chili Inc., have traded barbs over who serves the best "3-Way"—a chili served over spaghetti, with cheddar cheese on top. The chains, sometimes the subjects of consumer taste-offs, enlist endorsements from college and professional sports teams. And locals hotly debate the merits of Graeter's ice cream versus Aglamesis Bro's—both century-old, family-run businesses known for their signature versions of black raspberry chocolate chip.
The pie wars began in the fall of 2010 when Frisch's Restaurants Inc., a chain with 95 restaurants and 25 franchisees known for its double-decker Big Boy burger, launched a new billboard campaign for its pumpkin pies. One sign, with the slogan, "Hello, Pumpkin," was inadvertently located directly over Busken's flagship store.
Busken Bakery Inc., a 10-store chain where patrons take a ticket as they wait to order cookies, coffee and doughnuts, quickly launched its own pie in Frisch's face. It bought an adjacent billboard that read, "That's 'Mr. Pumpkin' to you, Big Boy."
"I didn't plan it that way," says Karen Maier, vice president of marketing for the restaurant chain, which meets in the summer with its advertising folks to hash out the holiday master plan. "But I promise you, after the first year I ordered the board for the next year."
In 2011, the two chains traded jabs on billboards, like boxers circling each other in a ring. Frisch's initial sign over the bakery's flagship store was a simple picture of a pumpkin pie with the words: "You had me at hello."
The Busken brothers, who typically brainstorm their retorts over coffee in offices smelling of baked bread and doughnuts at the company factory, shot back: "Sorry Big Boy, this pumpkin's taken."
The dialogue continued on Facebook.
"Oh, sorry for being so fresh," came the response from the restaurant chain.
Busken: "Let's just be friends."
Frisch's: "Sure, nothing hurts my fillings."
Dan Busken, who says he once arranged for his high-school classmates to park their cars in a big circle to deny access to spots for the faculty on the first day of his senior year, admits he can't really taste a difference in the two chains' fillings. But he claims superiority in crust. "It is all made from scratch," he said. "I would guess their crust is manufactured and brought in."
Ms. Maier says Frisch's makes its crust in-house, along with a filling that comes from specially aged Indiana pumpkins and a handful of secret spices. The pies are baked in a ferris-wheel style oven at the company's factory.
"It is like your mom's potato salad versus my mom's potato salad," said Ms. Maier, a Cincinnati native. "Both are good, but it just depends on what you grew up with."
Both companies have clearly benefited from the spat. Frisch's, which typically sells 90,000 pumpkin pies during its 16-week selling window, saw a 5% uptick the first year. The bakery, with an average of 2,500 pumpkin pies during the Thanksgiving season, saw a 20% jump in sales.
By CAROLINE PORTER
CINCINNATI—Dan and Brian Busken, of the family-owned Busken Bakery, pulled into the parking lot of a Frisch's Big Boy on a recent morning for a clandestine mission: They donned ski masks with fake mustaches attached, placed a ladder next to the restaurant's namesake statue and cloaked Big Boy in a Busken apron.
Two restaurants in Cincinnati, Ohio have taken their battle over which restaurant makes the city's best pumpkin pie to the prank stage. WSJ's Caroline Porter reports on the Cincinnati "pie wars".
To top things off, they encased the statue's trademark burger in a Busken pie box. They then posted the maneuver on YouTube and Facebook in a video complete with fake explosions and flashes of lightning.
"I know it's not typical behavior of a CEO and a vice president," says Dan Busken, 37-year-old prankster-in-chief of the 84-year-old family business known for cheeky ad campaigns, such as a billboard telling motorists to "Have a Crumby Day" with a picture of a smiley-face cookie.
The late October makeover was a recent volley in a pumpkin pie war between the small bakery chain and the regional restaurant group. What began as a friendly rivalry has been whipped up into an escalating tit for tat, playing out in billboards, social media stunts and live-action high jinks.
Rivalries have long generated marketing battles between corporate giants. In Cincinnati, a city of about 300,000 overlooking the Ohio River, one-upmanship has its own flavor.
Caroline Porter/The Wall Street Journal
Karen Maier, marketing executive at Frisch's, pictured, and Dan Busken, CEO of Busken Bakery, are waging a cheeky battle in ads for their companies' pies.
Caroline Porter/The Wall Street Journal
Dan Busken is the 37-year-old prankster-in-chief of a family business known for cheeky ad campaigns.
The town's rival chili chains, Gold Star Chili Inc. and Skyline Chili Inc., have traded barbs over who serves the best "3-Way"—a chili served over spaghetti, with cheddar cheese on top. The chains, sometimes the subjects of consumer taste-offs, enlist endorsements from college and professional sports teams. And locals hotly debate the merits of Graeter's ice cream versus Aglamesis Bro's—both century-old, family-run businesses known for their signature versions of black raspberry chocolate chip.
The pie wars began in the fall of 2010 when Frisch's Restaurants Inc., a chain with 95 restaurants and 25 franchisees known for its double-decker Big Boy burger, launched a new billboard campaign for its pumpkin pies. One sign, with the slogan, "Hello, Pumpkin," was inadvertently located directly over Busken's flagship store.
Busken Bakery Inc., a 10-store chain where patrons take a ticket as they wait to order cookies, coffee and doughnuts, quickly launched its own pie in Frisch's face. It bought an adjacent billboard that read, "That's 'Mr. Pumpkin' to you, Big Boy."
Close
Busken's pumpkin pie
"I didn't plan it that way," says Karen Maier, vice president of marketing for the restaurant chain, which meets in the summer with its advertising folks to hash out the holiday master plan. "But I promise you, after the first year I ordered the board for the next year."
In 2011, the two chains traded jabs on billboards, like boxers circling each other in a ring. Frisch's initial sign over the bakery's flagship store was a simple picture of a pumpkin pie with the words: "You had me at hello."
The Busken brothers, who typically brainstorm their retorts over coffee in offices smelling of baked bread and doughnuts at the company factory, shot back: "Sorry Big Boy, this pumpkin's taken."
The dialogue continued on Facebook.
"Oh, sorry for being so fresh," came the response from the restaurant chain.
Busken: "Let's just be friends."
Frisch's: "Sure, nothing hurts my fillings."
Dan Busken, who says he once arranged for his high-school classmates to park their cars in a big circle to deny access to spots for the faculty on the first day of his senior year, admits he can't really taste a difference in the two chains' fillings. But he claims superiority in crust. "It is all made from scratch," he said. "I would guess their crust is manufactured and brought in."
Ms. Maier says Frisch's makes its crust in-house, along with a filling that comes from specially aged Indiana pumpkins and a handful of secret spices. The pies are baked in a ferris-wheel style oven at the company's factory.
"It is like your mom's potato salad versus my mom's potato salad," said Ms. Maier, a Cincinnati native. "Both are good, but it just depends on what you grew up with."
Both companies have clearly benefited from the spat. Frisch's, which typically sells 90,000 pumpkin pies during its 16-week selling window, saw a 5% uptick the first year. The bakery, with an average of 2,500 pumpkin pies during the Thanksgiving season, saw a 20% jump in sales.
The two chains have carved out a loyal following. At Frisch's one recent day, Larry Daniels, who owns a family auto repair shop, said he and his wife bought a whole pie the first day they were available. "I would say that once I want one, it's kind of a desperate thing," says the 69-year-old.
Over at Busken's, Ingrid Smith, 64, mused on the scalloped crust of the bakery's pie. "It is flaky like mine," said the retired federal employee. "Plus, Busken's spices are little more pronounced."
Tom Hogan, a local builder, has his own solution. "I buy Frisch's by the slice for the fall season, and I buy Busken's by the pie for Thanksgiving," he said. "Does that make sense?"
This year, the wars heated up early when the Frisch's team decided to rebrand a Busken wall sign advertising low-calorie Halloween cookies featuring an image of a vampire cookie and the slogan: "Count Calories." A crew from the restaurant covered over the vampire cookie with vinyl stickers of a Big Boy face, and changed the slogan to say "Count Pies."
"What happened this year is Frisch's took it up a notch," Mr. Busken says. "So that really just opened up a window for Brian and I to take it to the next level."
The Busken brothers retreated to their offices in the bakery factory and came up with the idea of giving Big Boy a new outfit and posting the video. (Watch the video.)
Frisch's was quick to respond. A new billboard went up over the Busken factory last week, reading, "Hard-to-be-humble pie." A pumpkin-pie face, with whipped cream for eyes and a mouth, smiles down on the street.
"I'm not sure what's going to happen with that," said Mr. Busken, standing on the sidewalk and looking up at the new billboard, "but my mind is already spinning."
"Bring it on, Busken boys," says Ms. Maier.
A version of this article appeared November 8, 2012, on page A1 in the U.S. edition of The Wall Street Journal, with the headline: In Your Face: In Cincinnati, A Pie War Heats Up.
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