Drive Out Hunger Tour: The Cheesecake Factory and Feeding America
To raise awareness of domestic hunger and coordinate food and financial donations during Hunger Action Month last September, the Cheesecake Factory visited 30 cities in 30 days in a customized bread truck collecting cans of soup.
Radio stations in local markets set up live feeds to drive awareness of the tour and donations to local food banks. Restaurant-goers who donated received a complimentary slice of cheesecake and could have their photo uploaded to the tour website to be incorporated into a photo mosaic of a giant slice of cheesecake.
National publicity was sparked by the tour’s kick off, a star-studded event featuring actor David Arquette, chairman of Feeding America’s entertainment council. The centerpiece of the closing gala in Washington, D.C., was the construction of the world’s largest slice of cheesecake – a sculpture made up of 30,000 cans of soup. During the tour, 322,000 cans of soup were collected and donated to local food banks, more than three times the program goal.
