New York gets a taste of Supermac’s after giant snack box takeover

It’s a feast for the eyes for many a New Yorker as fast food chain Supermac’s think outside the snack box for their new marketing campaign.

This week, the restaurant giant teased the taste buds of millions of people wandering around New York City by slapping up mouth-watering advertisements on billboards and signs in Times Square.

In what has to be the most ambitious advertising campaign to come out of Ireland in recent years, the traffic-stopping ad invites potential tourists to Ireland, asking them to “come for the scenery, stay for the food”.

It also reminds them their nearest store is only 2,963 miles away.

Contrary to some beliefs @SupermacsIRE DOES NOT specialise in photo shop. ITS REAL #true #TimesSquare #NYC pic.twitter.com/GeT6jFSxAn

— Supermac's (@SupermacsIRE) October 21, 2014

The company remained tight lipped on the overall price of the advertisement, which lasted a couple of days, though estimated costs run into tens of thousands.

Pat McDonagh, managing director of Supermac’s, said it was well worth it though, saying they could have put up 10 billboards in Ireland for a whole month and still wouldn’t have received the amount of exposure they are currently getting.

He said: “The reaction has been great, in New York as well as Ireland. It has gone all across the world really, thanks to social media and the internet.”

He also praised the efforts of the marketing department for the campaign, in particular Eddie Brennan, a New Yorker, who came up with the idea originally.

He said while the billboards are essentially promoting Ireland in America, they also reach out to the large Irish population there — reminding them what they’re missing back home.

“We wanted to give Irish people living in one of the busiest cities in the world a minute to stop and reflect on home. The Supermac’s Snack Box is consistently mentioned as one of the main things Irish abroad miss about their homeland. I’ve lost count of the number of people who say Supermac’s is the first stop they make when they land on Irish soil.”

The fast food mogul also revealed he has been inundated with requests to open a franchise in the US, but will hold off until after Supermac’s has expanded more in Ireland and Europe.