There are a lot of online takeout services -- maybe too many if the recent GrubHub and Seamless North America merger means anything. To try to distinguish itself from the food-on-demand competition, Eat24 is pushing an unusual marketing strategy: It's going after the stoner crowd.
To attract the pot-friendly audience, Eat24 recently partnered with Snoop Lion. On working with the company, Snoop said it was the best "highdea" he had in a long time, according to press materials. "Eat24 is the official sponsor of my munchies," he said.
The Snoop partnership complements Eat24's sales data. The company claims it sees a distinct spike in ordering around 4:20 p.m. every day in Los Angeles, San Francisco and New York. Eat24 also claims there's been a steady increase in orders in Colorado and Washington state since their votes for marijuana legalization last year.
"If you think about it, the Eat24 app is like munchies on demand,” said Eat24 co-founder Asaf Sharon in a press release, “except it's free and there are no commercials."
In an email to The Huffington Post, a spokeswoman for Eat24 wrote, "We don't necessarily try to target weed smokers, we're just not afraid of talking about weed as part of our marketing efforts." Other pot-related efforts include cross-promotions with WeedMaps and social media efforts offering $4.20 off on orders.
While Eat24's strategy isn't necessarily that innovative -- GrubHub has had similar promotions in past years -- the company is a little more in-your-face about its goal. And can you blame it? If you make money based on how much food people order, you might as well reach out to a group of people known for eating a lot of food in one sitting.
The biggest winner in all of this might be Snoop Lion though. He was first introduced to Eat24 during a "smoke break" in which an "undisclosed" number of chicken wings were ordered. That sounds like a trade-up from his previous work shilling for Hot Pockets.