Shake Shack Wants to Lure Houston Barbecue Lovers With a Dry-Cleaning Service

In the world of bizarre promotional tactics, burger joint Shake Shack and laundry detergent Tide have teamed up to save your clothes

Anyone who has eaten Texas barbecue knows that things can get messy when handling saucy ribs or juicy, peppery brisket — it’s not uncommon to leave a barbecue joint with some sort of drippings on your shirt. Now, a fast-food chain is rethinking the entire barbecue experience by giving diners “sauce insurance.”

In a new entry into the world of bizarre promotional tactics, burger joint Shake Shack and laundry detergent Tide have teamed up with a unique offering. Now through Wednesday, July 31, Shake Shack is “bringing the smoke” to Houston with its newest burgers, including the smoky classic barbecue burger — an Angus beef burger topped with American cheese, bacon, crispy onions, and barbecue sauce, and the Carolina barbecue burger, topped fried pickles and a tangy-sweet sauce. The first 2,500 diners who upload a picture of their Shake Shack barbecue burger to Instagram (photos with stained clothes are encouraged) will get a complimentary $10 dry-cleaning voucher to use at any Tide Cleaners location in the country.

For Texans, who live in a state where barbecue sauce is a default condiment, it might be hard to determine if this idea is ridiculous or ingenious — and whether it might encourage other Houston barbecue joints to hop on board. Would diners consider a barbecue dining experience more if it came alongside a voucher for laundry service?

The Shake Shack-Tide promotion does have a hidden mission. The burger joint has promised to donate $25,000 to Tide Loads of Hope, a program that cleans clothes for families in need who recently experienced a natural disaster like floods, fires, and hurricanes — an initiative that hits close to home for Houstonians, many of whom endured power outages and flooding following Hurricane Beryl.