Friendsgiving’s Popularity Has More Brands Engaging Consumers Around the Unofficial Holiday

Friendsgiving’s Popularity Has More Brands Engaging Consumers Around the Unofficial Holiday

Friendsgiving has become a popular companion event to Thanksgiving—or even an alternative one for people who can’t or don’t celebrate the official holiday—and the trend of friends gathering to celebrate the unofficial holiday isn’t slowing down.

According to data collected by online invitation website Evite, Friendsgiving events have grown an average of 34.8% year-over-year for the last five years. And in 2018, more than 432,000 people were invited to Friendsgiving parties through Evite, with 39% of events occurring the Saturday before Thanksgiving.

More brands are taking note of the rising popularity of Friendsgiving, which has been the focus of recent experiential events, social campaigns and product launches from brands including Google, Grey Goose and Sabra.

Taco Bell, however, has been celebrating Friendsgiving before it became a go-to event for marketers. The fast food company launched its annual Friendsgiving program in 2013, which involves a dinner hosted for influencers and select fans of the brand at its headquarters in Irvine, Calif.

The chain, which regularly engages consumers in unique ways, also releases a new recipe on its website each year for fans of the brand who can’t attend the dinner. This year’s recipe is for rolled chicken tacos bisque.

Tracee Larocca, svp of brand engagement and advertising for Taco Bell, said the Friendsgiving dinner began as a way to give back to creators and fans who posted regularly about the brand on social media….[Read More]