Five Guys CEO Handed Out $1.5M in Bonuses After Their BOGO Disaster
When Five Guys' 40th anniversary buy-one-get-one burger deal went completely sideways in February, CEO Jerry Murrell didn't just apologize — he wrote checks.
The chain announced on March 9 that Murrell is distributing $1.5 million in bonuses to store employees following the botched February 17 deal that drew far more customers than anyone anticipated. Locations ran out of food. Customers were turned away. It was, by the company's own admission, a mess.
"I didn't want anybody shooting me in the back or anything after the first day, because we really screwed it up," Murrell told Fortune. "We had no idea that we were going to get that kind of response."
According to Murrell, he personally wrote checks to 1,500 Five Guys employees — which works out to $1,000 per person.
The chain also brought the BOGO deal back from March 9 through 12, spreading it across several days this time rather than cramming it into one chaotic afternoon, giving loyal customers another shot at the deal that originally got away from them.
And Then the Fry Bag Situation
The goodwill from the bonus announcement didn't last long before Five Guys stepped into another controversy.
On March 16 — just days after the makeup BOGO wrapped — the chain rolled out a new way of serving fries. Out went the plastic cups. In came kraft paper bags, which the company says are BPA- and PFAS-free.
The internet did not receive this warmly.
Five Guys loyalists have long celebrated the chain's signature overflowing fry situation — the cup stuffed to the brim with fries and then more fries dumped into the bag on top. The paper bags, critics say, don't hold as many fries and leave a greasy mess despite the company's claim that the bags are grease-resistant.
For a chain whose entire identity is built around excess — more fries, always more fries — messing with the vessel feels personal to a certain kind of customer.
Murrell handled the BOGO fallout pretty gracefully. The fry bag fallout is still playing out.
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