Seven hours of queuing. Often in the rain. Just for a photo and a sandwich. The inauguration of Space Patty launched by Richard Dose And Daniel D’Addetta it attracted hundreds of people. Milan, Navigli area. Dose and Dadda are two creators with a large following on social media. Let’s just mention Instagram: 1.8 million of followers for Dose e 735,000 for Dadda.
A few months ago they started one marketing campaign for the launch of theirs Space Pattya fast food restaurant that offers a UFO-shaped sandwich. It’s a burger made like a flying saucer, an effect achieved by squeezing the bun in a press. In Italy there were already some places that had it but no one had yet arrived with it such a strong social impact.
How to turn views into food
The operation, or rather the launch, is successful. But looking at the pictures we had one feeling of déjà vu. In recent years we have witnessed several such operations. Too many too. A small list. In June Mirko CiccioGamer89 Alessandrini launched his own burger shop in Rome. A few months earlier Ayotiktoker with 1.3 million followerslaunched together with Steven Basalari his taco place. In October 2024 the YouTuber John Foisover one million members, has opened its Kebestbasically a kebab with lighter recipes.
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All these places are characterized by a brands strong. The logo not only appears on the restaurant sign but is also found on the trays, in the packaging, sometimes directly imprinted on the food. The food is simple: the formula, as you can see, is always the same variant of fast food. Business is scalable, a word that people really like marketing guru. If the formula works, we can open other venues with it the same rules of engagement.
How fame on social media is monetized
But why do influencers decide to open a local? We don’t know what the profound reasons may be why at a certain point in one’s career one feels the need to see one’s own face on the paper of a sandwich. However, we can venture some hypotheses by looking at the question from a more economic point of view.
Fame on social media it must be monetized. Not all platforms pay creators for their content. And not all of them pay them consistently. Today an excellent platform for monetizing is YouTube which has integrated a stable advertising system. Twitch worked better before. Tomorrow who knows.
THE channels to attract new flows of money they are not always the same. Here too we are a bit trendy. There was a time when all creators they published their autobiographical book. There was the sticker album. There was the wild merchandise phase. I Me Contro Te have also launched a kit of plates, napkins and glasses for home parties.
Some good reasons to open a fast food restaurant
At the moment there are three ways to monetize. The shows to theateri trips And the opening of fast food restaurants. Let’s hold on on the last one. The advantages of linking your image to a fast food restaurant are: at least three. The first is that of social media marketingan important vehicle for attracting new customers to the premises. It’s practically already done. Enough exploit the capital of followers accumulated with years of video content.
Not only that. When a creator opens a place he can also count on a good number of reviews made by all the swarm of food influencers rushing to make contents And reviews. In short. That social marketing that a new place has to pay for between communication agencies, events and invitations for critics and creators is already ready here. Excellent advantage.
The second is that of cost. In the places we have listed the complete menus travel around the 15 euros. A figure low enough to convince fans and attract skeptics. It costs less than a seat for a show at the theater, less than a t-shirt with a name on it and less than a vacation in Japan with your favorite creator. It’s the cheapest gadget you can get.
The third reason concerns more closely the type of food. On YouTube, smashburger videos have replaced kitten videos. Food is one of the most widespread and most discussed topics on the platform. And the influencers who open their premises often come from a long time ago seeding campaigntests and signals to test the public’s interest. CiccioGamer had before opening his restaurant posted cooking videossigned a recipe book and launched a limited series of sandwiches from assemble at home.
In short. The starting bases are excellent. The problem though it’s easy to imagine: after the launch and the initial interest, is it possible to keep the place open? The answer is not always yes. It always depends on the product, marketing can go up to a certain point. Patrizio Chianesea fairly controversial creator, had opened his place in Naples after years of filming himself selling hot dogs from his street stall. Here too the first days were well crowded but the place for reasons never clarified it closed after a few months.
