Primanti Bros.
When your wings suck, own it. Loudly.
Challenge
Primanti Bros. had a wing problem. Customers were letting them know the wings were too small, not fresh, and simply didn’t live up to the legendary status of their “Almost Famous” sandwiches. Years of haters posting online reviews, tweets, and casual complaints built up a reputation the brand couldn’t ignore.
Primanti Bros. needed to relaunch their new, fresh, never frozen wings, but they had to do it in a way that didn’t pretend the past didn’t happen. Instead of sweeping it under the rug, they wanted to own it. Loudly
Solution
We created the Sad Wings Hotline, a bold campaign that gave customers a place to air their wing grievances. It launched with a TV spot, spoofing class action lawyers with a number to call, so we can “make it right. 1-866-SAD-WINGS was born. When people called the hotline, they were greeted with a voicemail that admitted the old wings weren’t great, and invited them to leave their complaint for a chance to win free wings for a year.

The campaign then unfolded across TV, digital, social, and outdoor, including a full-page apology ad in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. We even teamed up with real-life attorneys Morgan & Morgan to “co-sign” the message with outdoor boards in their signature look.

Every element pointed to the same promise: We know the old wings weren’t good. But we fixed them and they’re worth coming back for.
Results
The Sad Wings campaign delivered big. In just the first few weeks, wing sales climbed, store traffic increased, and over 700 real customers called the hotline to leave voicemails. The buzz earned the campaign a Top 5 spot in AdAge’s “Top Campaigns Right Now.” Most importantly? Pittsburgh showed up hungry, and ready to forgive.
Additional Work
Let’s create the extraordinary together
