HOSPITALITY MARKETING
Zapwater worked with RA Sushi to develop an event that would create buzz around local personalities and the creativity of their sushi rules. The team created an event titled, “Meteo-RA-logy Madness,” a contest that featured a line-up of Chicagoland’s favorite weather people. Each meteorologist was picked to create a signature sushi roll and partner with non-profit organizations to raise money for a good cause.
Their sushi rolls were prepared by RA Sushi’s expert sushi chef, then sampled and judged by a panel of local media personalities, as well as the crowd in attendance. Each roll was judged based on creativity of name, ingredients, presentation and most importantly, taste!
The 2010 Meteo-RA-logy Madness contest featured:
• Mary Kay Kleist, CBS2’s lead meteorologist for “Monsters & Money in the Morning,” created the “Maximum Vorticity” roll. Mary Kay played for The Randy Salerno Foundation, which assists bereaved children and families in McHenry County.
• Amy Freeze, from FOX Chicago News, developed “The Freeze Front” roll. She partnered with March of Dimes whose mission is to improve the health of babies by preventing birth defects, premature birth and infant mortality.
• NBC5’s very own Ginger Zee developed the “Hurricane Ginger” roll. Ginger represented The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, which works towards finding a cure for leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin’s disease and melanoma and improving the quality of life for patients and their families.
• Last and certainly not least, Duffy Atkins from WGN/CLTV coined the “Fujita-Toro Roll.” Duffy played for In Concert Chicago, an organization that arranges for Chicago-area student and professional musicians to perform for senior citizens at nursing homes, retirement communities and assisted-living centers.
Duffy Atkin’s winning roll was featured on its own menu from May 1 through May 15, 2010 at all three Chicagoland RA Sushi locations (Chicago, Glenview and Lombard.) A portion of the proceeds generated from the sale of the roll will benefited In Concert Chicago.
The media that covered the event included CBS 2 Evening News, WGN-CLTV Morning, NBC 5 Evening, CBS 2 Morning, FOX Chicago, WGN-CLTV Evening, CheekyChicago.com, RedEye, and Time Out Chicago to name a few.