Designed by The Republik | Country: United States
“To invite attendance at the May 13 pre-opening press party for quick-service restaurant BBQ Post 401, Fredericksburg, Va., advertising agency The Republik, Durham mailed out dozens of plastic-sealed “Field Preparedness Kits,” each containing what appeared to be a military MRE (Meal Ready to Eat).
If the links between southern barbequed and battlefield cuisine seem unlikely, the connections are BBQ Post 401’s fast service—you can have a pork BBQ sandwich about as quickly as a soldier can pull open his MRE—and the local community. Fredericksburg, nearby to Quantico Marine Base and Fredericksburg Battlefields Military Park, hosts a large military population. The invite recipients included military newspaper and newsletter (as well as ununiformed) journalists.
Along with a press release, each MRE package contains a “Feasting Eagles” insignia decal (“Feasting Eagles” ties to “Fighting Eagles,” the nickname of 27th Fighter Squadron, based two hours away in Virginia’s Langley Air Force Base), and an “All Operation Access” press pass lanyard, entitling the bearer to free admission and—the sine qua non for the semper fidelis—free BBQ.”
