Scattered, Smothered & Covered With Love

Published on February 19, 2016, at 9:00 a.m.
by Kenzie Winn.

Nothing says “I love you” like a bacon patty melt and some hash browns, right?

It seems Waffle House fans around the nation would agree.

This year, Waffle House offered its ninth annual Valentine’s Day dinner complete with candles, rose petals and white tablecloths. The restaurant chain even offered a special menu featuring a T-bone steak and heart-shaped waffles.

The theme was coined “It’s a Waffle House Love Story,” and more than 140 of the restaurant locations across the nation participated in the event, according to Waffle House’s website. A couple of locations also recruited local performers to provide their guests with live music.

Perhaps Waffle House might not seem like the most dreamy venue for a pair of lovers’ big night out. Nonetheless, the restaurants did not have any trouble filling up their tables. In fact, customers needed to call ahead in order to reserve a table.

What’s behind the Waffle House Valentine’s dinner buzz?

Marketing, of course. Marketing logic frequently advocates that in order to be effective, do what your competition does. However, as Waffle House has proven, that is not always the best path to success.

A quick scroll through Waffle House’s Instagram account illustrates that its strategy fell back on the sole notion of “daring to be different”: mixing the traditional with the untraditional and the conventional with the quirky.

So next year if you’re looking to save a few bucks on Valentine’s Day, take your sweetheart to the local Waffle House — but don’t forget to make reservations first.