{"id":63852,"date":"2012-10-24T12:46:47","date_gmt":"2012-10-24T17:46:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.theonering.net\/torwp\/?p=63852"},"modified":"2012-10-24T12:46:47","modified_gmt":"2012-10-24T17:46:47","slug":"dennys-middle-earths-diner-hoom-dont-be-hasty","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.theonering.net\/torwp\/2012\/10\/24\/63852-dennys-middle-earths-diner-hoom-dont-be-hasty\/","title":{"rendered":"Denny’s, Middle-earth’s Diner – ‘Hoom, don’t be hasty….’"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>As we revealed yesterday, the diner chain Denny’s has secured a big Hobbit<\/em> tie-in and is releasing a new, Hobbit<\/em>\u00a0menu plus collectible\u00a0trading cards on November 6th.\u00a0\u00a0Staffer greendragon had the pleasure of visiting Denny’s HQ to find out what this is all about, and she was surprised by what she discovered.\u00a0 Here’s what she had to say:<\/p>\n

OK, full disclosure here folks.\u00a0 I have never been to a Denny’s.\u00a0 I didn’t know what their food is like but I had my assumptions – fast food, all frozen, pre-cooked, processed rubbish, I thought…\u00a0 And then I heard they were going to have a Hobbit<\/em>\u00a0movie tie-in campaign.\u00a0 Hooommm.\u00a0 Sounds like orc mischief to me; slap a few gimmicky names on a few already-designed dishes and make a fast buck.\u00a0 Right?\u00a0 Turns out, I was wrong; read on to find out what I discovered yesterday….<\/p>\n

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Denny’s are so proud of their new campaign that they took the bold step of inviting TheOneRing.net, along with other internet writers and bloggers – geeks and foodies! – to their headquarters to learn all about their plans for bringing\u00a0Middle-earth into their restaurants.\u00a0 That’s seven independent writers, many of whom may have arrived with the same doubts I had, all unleashed on the internet to say what they like about Denny’s! \u00a0As John Dillon, their Vice President of Marketing, remarked to me, ‘We knew it could backfire. But we felt so confident in what we’ve created, we invited you in….’<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Truth is, I was surprised and impressed by what we learned, and by the ‘unexpected journey’ Denny’s themselves have undertaken.\u00a0 First of all, a little perspective on this campaign:\u00a0 these promotions are not quickly nor lightly decided.\u00a0 Warner Bros. are very picky about who gets tie-ins to their movies; and for The Hobbit <\/em>trilogy, Peter Jackson himself looks at proposals for partners.\u00a0 On Denny’s side, this is not the first time they have had a movie tie-in – just last holiday season, they had an Arthur<\/em> Christmas<\/em>\u00a0promotion, and past partnerships include\u00a0Dreamworks\u00a0Animation’s Madagascar<\/em>.\u00a0 They also turn down MANY invitations to work with movies.\u00a0 When Warner Bros. approached them about The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey<\/em>, however, they were excited.\u00a0 As Sharon Lykins, Senior Director of\u00a0Product Development, told us, ‘We saw it as a natural fit.\u00a0 We thought about that scene [at Amon Sul] where they cook sausages in a skillet – it’s perfect for Denny’s!’<\/p>\n

Warner Bros. had their own reasons for being interested in Denny’s.\u00a0 The movie studio wanted somewhere which provided a ‘sit down atmosphere, an immersed experience’; a quick ‘in and out’ fast food venue was not what they were looking for.\u00a0 With two geeks in their test kitchen –\u00a0both Lykins and Senior Manager, Corporate Chef Scott Richard are fans, and Richard remarked that creating a Hobbit menu was ‘a dream come true’ –\u00a0Denny’s accepted the challenge and set about convincing WB that they should indeed be the chain chosen for this promotion.<\/p>\n

The test kitchen went to work, pondering, creating, and dismissing many ideas! ‘We had a genuine excitement and interest in this!\u00a0 We wanted to build products that reflected hobbits … to be true to the ‘rustic’ feel of the Shire,’ said Lykins.\u00a0 ‘All at Denny’s felt very strongly that this HAS to be authentic.\u00a0 We wanted true fans to feel we had put some thought into it.’\u00a0 (VP Dillon told me, ‘We knew if we only half did this, we’d screw it up – we had to go all out.’)\u00a0 So naturally, they used mushrooms and ‘po-tay-toes’ in dishes; but they took it further than that.\u00a0 \u00a0For example, they considered Lembas\u00a0bread French toast – but decided that true Lembas\u00a0bread would be too hard.\u00a0 Going back to the book, however, they noticed that Tolkien describes ‘two beautiful round seed-cakes’ in Bilbo’s pantry – so ‘Seed Cake French Toast’ made it onto the menu.\u00a0 Those contents of Bilbo’s pantry, listed by the Professor, were the source of many ideas; they were also inspired by the scene with trolls William, Bert and Tom, and created a milk shake with s’mores cookie pieces as the ‘Lone-Lands Campfire Cookie Milk Shake’.<\/p>\n

Many ideas were tried and dismissed – only the winning products, which would appeal both to Hobbit fans and<\/em> to other diners in their restaurants, made the final list.\u00a0 Eventually, having convinced WB that their campaign had thought and attention to detail behind it, and was\u00a0‘not\u00a0just something on a cup,’ Denny’s won the rights to the tie-in campaign.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Denny’s knew, of course, that the promotion couldn’t only be about food; many fans are also collectors, and an exclusive collectible is part of any good movie tie-in.\u00a0 For The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey<\/em>, Denny’s have created twelve trading cards – and interestingly, so far these are the ONLY trading cards of any kind which will be released for the first Hobbit<\/em> movie!\u00a0 There are ten regular cards and two hard-to-find, exclusive cards.\u00a0 Anyone purchasing\u00a0an entr\u00e9e from the Hobbit<\/em> menu receives a packet containing two cards and a coupon for future use at Denny’s.\u00a0 The cards are very nicely designed\u00a0 – produced by Denny’s themselves, but of course carefully checked and approved by WB – and will satisfy those hoarding instincts amongst eager fans.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Next Denny’s needed an advertising campaign – and their PR folks have done a stellar job!\u00a0For the first time in their history, Denny’s went\u00a0with a ‘teaser campaign’\u00a0– and had a dwarvish\u00a0expert from the movies write the runes for those billboards in Los Angeles!\u00a0 Other fun images include Thror’s\u00a0map wrapping silverware, and whipped cream on a smoothie, shaped like Gandalf\u2019s hat!\u00a0 The Hobbit<\/em> menus are also a thing of beauty – wonderful pictures of Middle-earth, starting with Bag End, going up through rolling fields, to waterfalls, soaring eagles and way up on a snowy mountainside… a little Denny’s, precariously perched!\u00a0 As well as these lovely menus, outlets will be decorated with signs and posters; servers will have buttons with the Hobbit<\/em>\u00a0acorn; and placemats will include four QR codes which can be scanned for exclusive content!<\/p>\n

There is more to tell – and in a further post, I’ll share some ‘spoilers’ about the exclusive content and some other little secrets which we gleaned throughout the day.\u00a0 Meanwhile, I can’t finish this post without saying a word or two about THE FOOD!\u00a0 We were lucky enough to get a taste of all the new Hobbit<\/em> menu items, and I was stunned by how good it all was.\u00a0 (I was also impressed by the kitchen and\u00a0pantry\u00a0– full of actual FOOD, not chemicals!\u00a0 Denny’s burger, for example, contains nothing but meat and a little salt;\u00a0they’re always made fresh, so no need for preservatives.)<\/p>\n

Believe me, I’m picky about\u00a0my food, and if the trading cards were exciting but the food terrible, I’d write that here.\u00a0 I have no vested interest in Denny’s; but the truth is, it was all delicious.\u00a0 The ‘Hobbit Hole’ cheddar bun contained a fried\u00a0egg in the middle, and the yolk was still runny and perfect for dipping the round ‘door’ of my hobbit hole!\u00a0 The ‘Shire Sausage’ is a chunky, peppery, pork sausage – Denny’s were looking for an English style sausage, and as\u00a0a Brit who bemoans the lack of English sausages in the US, I can testify that they’ve come pretty close.\u00a0 The ‘Lone-lands Campfire\u00a0Cookie Milk Shake’, which I mentioned above, was addictively\u00a0delightful, and I’m still dreaming of the sinfully good ‘Radagast’s\u00a0Red Velvet Pancake Puppies’ – hushpuppies of red velvet cake with white chocolate chips, accompanied by cream cheese icing for dipping!<\/p>\n

It being holiday season, the menu wouldn’t be complete without turkey, and as well as a ‘Dwarves’ Turkey and Dressing Dinner’, there is ‘Gandalf’s Gobble Melt’ – a grilled turkey sandwich with stuffing and cranberry honey mustard sauce, with a side of gravy.<\/p>\n

OK, this isn’t health food.\u00a0 Sugary, cheesy, meaty and filling, it wouldn’t be\u00a0great for you to eat it every day\u00a0– but then, I wouldn’t eat my mother’s fabulous roast dinners and steamed puddings every day, but that doesn’t make them any less delicious!\u00a0 For comfort food or for an indulgent treat,\u00a0Denny’s menu is\u00a0right on the money.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>So – America’s diner becomes Middle-earth’s diner;\u00a0 and in spite of my misgivings,\u00a0it turns out to be a great idea.\u00a0 Creative, fun food, carefully planned in reference to the film AND to Tolkien’s books; wonderful graphics and collectible cards; and all coming from a place of enthusiasm and passion on the part of Denny’s themselves.\u00a0 Let me tell ya, if you want to feast like a hobbit, get down to your local Denny’s from November 6th.\u00a0 Fans will love it; children will be excited; and Denny’s regulars will enjoy some new treats.\u00a0 I know I’ll be back for more of those red velvet ‘puppies’….<\/p>\n

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