Soldier poster helps eateries promote gift card purchases

The restaurant industry has been devastated by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Restaurants initially resorted to takeout or delivery options to keep their businesses going, but many have seen their sales drop 50 to 70 percent.

Fight For Restaurants is providing a gift card soldier poster free to independent restaurants to help them sell more of their gift cards now and when they fully reopen their dining rooms.

Marketing expert Scott Johnston of Seaford created Fight For Restaurants because he saw the immediate need of his restaurant clients and was called into action to support them.

“If we can help a restaurant owner sell just one $25 gift card per day, that represents an additional $750 in sales per month. This immediately improves their cash flow and provides critical working capital,” said Johnston.

“The free soldier poster increases awareness since most customers don’t think of buying my gift cards when ordering a pizza,” said Craig Dimes, owner of Hungry Howie’s in Seaford.

To build excitement for this effort, Johnston created the official Gift Card Salute Challenge. This viral challenge encourages restaurant customers to show their patriotism and proof of gift card purchase by performing a salute while holding the gift card in their salute hand. To complete the challenge, they post a picture or video of their salute to social media sites and challenge three additional people to do the same.

During the stay-at-home directive, Johnston has been assisted on the project by his family members to support their family of restaurant clients and the restaurants’ employees. For over 57 years, his family has owned, managed and worked in restaurants, and provided advertising, marketing, printing and consulting services to more than 1,000 restaurants locally and nationwide.

“As marketers, we know how important it is to upsell additional products and services, and our posters remind customers to help the restaurant owners’ fight by purchasing gift cards with their food orders,” said Linda Johnston.

“This pandemic has impacted everyone, and moved our country to mobilize people and resources in a way that has not been seen since World War II. We are literally at war with an invisible enemy. This warlike effort has been the inspiration for the designs of our vintage war posters,” said Scott Johnston.

“Awesome posters! We appreciate your help and the support of our community who have continued to patronize our restaurants during this tough time,” said Shirley Baynum, owner of PK Restaurants.

“The restaurant business is typically a low-margin business, and independent owners face many costs to fully reopen, including hiring back more staff, catching up on old invoices and replacing food supplies. Also, due to social distancing requirements, many restaurants have been limited to opening their doors with only 25 to 60 percent of their dining capacity, and this is economically challenging for most restaurants,” said Johnston. “Our restaurants have always served us. Now, it is our time to serve them. Visit your favorite restaurant and buy a gift card today.”

For more information, go to www.FightForRestaurants.com.