Jerry Morrell, CEO of the American fast-food chain Five Guys, recently did something quite remarkable. He announced that he would fund a $1.5 million bonus for his employees as compensation for the company’s disastrous “buy one get one free” promotion.
It’s rare for a boss to give employees extra money, and Jerry’s words added a dramatic twist. In a media interview, he joked, “I don’t want someone shooting me in the back after the promotion, because we really messed it up…” Clearly, Jerry’s “shoot in the back” refers to the infamous Luigi Scout shooting of the CEO of a healthcare giant.
On one side is the evil capitalism described by the American public as “deliberately denying insurance and exploiting the people,” and on the other is a wealthy young talent willing to stand up for the common people. After Scout’s killing of the CEO, many Americans viewed him as a symbol of justice. The narrative that “Luigi shot and killed a financial tycoon, terrifying all the wealthy and powerful” has a natural ability to spread, making many people fans of Luigi.
Jerry’s use of this allusion is clearly intended to satirize the situation and prove he’s not the cold-blooded, exploitative CEO type. Last month, Five Guys celebrated its 40th anniversary, and after discussions with management, Jerry decided to run a buy-one-get-one-free promotion across all its stores nationwide.
On the day of the promotion, employees prepared for opening as usual, but the overwhelming influx of customers completely packed every store. Employees worked tirelessly from opening to closing but still couldn’t finish their work.
Jerry later admitted he never expected customers to be so enthusiastic: “I always thought it was funny that people participated in promotions. I never thought promotions worked before, I just tried a buy-one-get-one-free promotion, and the result was unexpected. I couldn’t believe so many people participated. I thought sales would increase by about 20% at most, but sales increased by 130% that day. So, I felt like I messed up.”
Because of the overwhelming orders that day, the employees were on the front lines suffering, and Jerry felt it was necessary to give them “compensation for their hardship.” After the event, the company announced that it would give each of the 1,500 stores a $1,000 bonus, totaling about $1.5 million, all of which would be distributed to employees to recognize their excellent performance under the pressure of huge orders.
Jerry joked that he originally planned to use the bonus money to buy his wife a fur coat: “She still looks at me like I’m an idiot. But I think it’s all worth it. The employees work very hard and are under a lot of pressure.”
The bonus alone would have been enough for the media to report on for a while, but Jerry chose the most attention-grabbing tactic: comparing himself to the CEO who was shot and killed.
However, netizens remained unconvinced, feeling the wealthy man hadn’t given enough, and such a small favor didn’t deserve their praise: “Only $1,000 per store… pathetic. If you pay your employees their full wages every day, you don’t have to live in fear of this bluff. Or just give each employee $1,000 directly; that’s at least the bare minimum for showing goodwill. Billionaires are so out of touch with reality.”