Zaxby’s made tourism ads for Macon, Georgia, the first place it’s bringing back milkshakes

Zaxby’s has a thing for zeroing in on specific cities. Last fall, it annoyed Philadelphia on purpose with outdoor ads from Tombras that poked fun at the traditional Philly sandwich—saying its own version, using fried chicken instead of steak, was better. (There aren’t even any Zaxby’s near Philadelphia, either, which made the OOH campaign that much more pointed.) Now, the sandwich chain is swinging in the other direction in a new Tombras campaign, singing the praises of a city much closer to its Athens, Georgia, home, as part of a new-product intro—or rather, re-intro. Ad Age Young Creatives Zaxby’s is bringing back milkshakes after a seven-year hiatus, but initially only in one city—Macon, Georgia. So, it teamed up with the city’s tourism organization to create new tourism ads that just happen to feature a whole lot of Zaxby’s shakes. In the first spot below, various Maconites begin to talk about the treasures of their hometown, but stop themselves to take long, slurpy drags on their milkshakes. A second video is similar, but instead of the slurping, we get lots of not-so-subtle milkshake shots amid the rest of the tourism imagery. It’s nice to see even the mayor, Lester Miller, get on board with the campaign, which also includes outdoor billboards, a takeover of visitmacon.org, and digital/social content. Zaxby’s was the primary funder of the campaign, with logistical and other support from Visit Macon. Among other things, the city helped recruit the locals who appear on camera, and found locations and coordinated with local business owners on a short timeline. “It is pretty incredible that we brought an entire city together to lure tourists with milkshakes,” said Avinash Baliga, executive creative director of Tombras. “Everyone was in on the joke, including the mayor, and every person in the ad is a real Maconite. These milkshakes are a very compelling reason to ditch your Paris or Barcelona vacation plans and plan a trip to Macon, Georgia, instead.”

Zaxby’s made tourism ads for Macon, Georgia, the first place it’s bringing back milkshakes

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