Here’s a cheesy story for you: Couple has first date at a pizza joint, falls in love, eats there every Friday, but moves away before getting married. When they do tie the knot, all they want for their reception is a slice of the pizza that brought them together. Luckily, the quirky brand, Mellow Mushroom Pizza Bakers, has a mobile kitchen—aka the “Bake Bus”—and a big heart.
The Atlanta-based company revved up the bus typically used as a marketing vehicle for concerts, sporting events and other festivals and drove it to the small town outside Charlotte, NC, in early October to cater its first wedding with a pop-up dinner.
“Here at Mellow, we are suckers for a great love story,” says Annica Kreider, v.p. of brand development. “We knew we needed to seize this opportunity and provide the ultimate surprise of their lifetime, so we did.”
The bride and groom, Stephen and Heidi Smith, obviously knew the bus was coming, but everyone else was surprised to see the rather colorful vehicle roll in (check out the video). The duo enjoyed their first pie from Mellow Mushroom in Savannah years ago and even came up with their own special pizza, the menu favorite Magical Mystery Tour (pesto base with button and Portobello mushrooms, feta and mozzarella cheeses, spinach and jalapeños on a pesto-basted crust), plus pineapple.
The moral of this story? We love pizza, too, and we obviously also like a story with a happy ending. And more importantly, it’s an example of great customer service, and the kind of guerilla marketing effort that drew at least our attention.
Congrats to the Smiths, and Mellow Mushroom, the brand founded in 1974 with more than 150 locations in 18 states.
