Gold Star Spicy Chicken Sandwich
Gold Star — Turning Tradition Into Trial
Gold Star is a Cincinnati institution, known and loved for its signature chili in a city where food loyalty runs deep.
In spring 2025, the brand introduced a new spicy chicken sandwich, creating an opportunity to build excitement around a limited-time launch while expanding how guests thought about the menu.
The goal was not just awareness. Gold Star aimed to spark curiosity, conversation, and meaningful trial, with an ambitious sales objective across more than 60 locations during the launch window.
The Challenge
Launching a new menu item at an iconic brand comes with a unique challenge.
Gold Star’s loyal guests already know what they love, and chili will always be central to the brand. The opportunity was not to compete with that legacy, but to introduce a new spicy chicken sandwich in a way that felt just as relevant, craveable, and culturally connected.
The challenge was to launch the new sandwich with momentum while also encouraging broader trial of chicken sandwiches overall.
Services
- Strategy - Goal Setting
- Content - Strategy and Planning
- Content - Graphic Design and Static Content
- Content - Content Optimization and Publishing
- Media - Campaign Planning & Buying
- Media - Performance Monitoring
- Analytics - Performance Tracking and Reporting
- Community - Influencer Partnerships
- Strategy - Influencer Collaboration
- Content - Influencer and User-Generated Content
The Insight
When food choices are tied to habit and identity, new items need more than visibility. They need a reason to care.
To successfully launch the spicy chicken sandwich, Gold Star needed a cultural hook that felt familiar, playful, and unmistakably Cincinnati. Something that could spark curiosity and conversation before guests ever reached the counter or opened the app.
The introduction of two sauces, Heavenly and Hellacious, created that opening by giving the launch a clear, memorable tension rooted in personality and local culture.
The Idea
If Hell Is Real, the chicken sandwich should be too.
Rather than leading with standard food imagery or feature-driven messaging, we tapped into one of Cincinnati’s most iconic cultural symbols: the Hell Is Real billboard along I-75.
By connecting Gold Star’s Hellacious sauce to a landmark locals instantly recognize, the campaign transformed a menu launch into a cultural moment. The billboard itself was not the campaign. It served as the spark that ignited a broader, social-first system designed to live where conversation already happens.
The Execution
We led a fully integrated, social-first campaign built to drive conversation, normalize trial, and surround the audience throughout the launch window.
Organic social storytelling leaned into the Heaven vs. Hell narrative with playful, personality-forward content crafted to spark comments and shares
Cultural amplification of the Hell Is Real moment anchored the campaign in local relevance and shareability
Local influencer partnerships with Cincinnati food creators helped make the new spicy chicken sandwich feel like a natural choice for loyal diners
Paid social amplification extended reach by prioritizing high-performing content and reinforcing the core idea across platforms
The Impact
The campaign delivered both conversation and conversion, with results that highlighted the strength of the idea and the system behind it:
The Hell Is Real billboard post achieved an engagement rate 7 times higher than average, demonstrating the power of culturally rooted storytelling. See it here for yourself!
Overall social content drove a 31 percent increase in engagement rate across platforms
Campaign impressions reached 14 percent above goal, reflecting efficient amplification
During the launch window, Gold Star saw a significant increase in chicken sandwich sales year over year
Why It Matters
This work shows how legacy brands can introduce something new without losing what made them beloved in the first place.
By building on local culture, leading with entertainment, and designing a social-first system that balanced personality with performance, Gold Star launched its spicy chicken sandwich in a way that felt authentic, memorable, and worth trying.
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