Our idea was to fuel a movement to empower our audience in a way only Checkers could, led by a successful neighborhood voice: rap mogul Rick Ross.

Ross has always been a genuine fan of Checkers. His love for the brand began when he was working at a car wash right next to McDonald’s. Hardly making enough to afford his lunch every day, he would go to Checkers since they had the most affordable and best tasting food.

So we sold Rick Ross his childhood Checkers. We followed him back to his hometown of Carroll City Florida, and told his story in a documentary about the Buy Back the Block movement. Then Ross dropped a hit song and video by the same name, with Checkers worked into the lyrics and album art as Ross raps about buying back his neighborhood one brick at a time.

First we sold Ross his childhood Checkers. Then we launched a documentary about him doing it, and kicking off the Buy Back the Block movement. The film launched on Uproxx and BroBible, accompanied by articles about the deal and the movement.

The promotional period ran from December 19th – January 8th.

The Buy Back the Block song and music video, which call out Ross’s deal and the Checkers brand rose to the top of the charts and work as a constant reminder of the brand’s connection with the audience.

Aside from making a noticeable impact on our audience, we broke through mainstream barriers after being written about by the likes of New York Times, Rolling Stone, Spin, and XXL. Along with Ross being an active brand ambassador on social, DJ Khaled even shared the story on Twitter with his 3.27 Million followers. Other stats include:

- 1.8 Million hours spent watching content

- Over 300 Million media impressions

- Traffic up 4.4% and Sales up 1.6% in a declining category

- And the movement continues. #BuyBackTheBlock

Burger chain Checkers’ collaboration with 6-time Grammy-nominated artist and rap mogul Rick Ross was more than a campaign. It was a partnership that included Ross buying his childhood Checkers, a documentary about it, a hit song and music video called Buy Back the Block that climbed the charts and featured Checkers in the lyrics and album art, and a movement where Ross inspired people to buy real estate in their neighborhoods for the good of all.

Checkers’ “Fast Foodies Know The Deal” campaign celebrates our target—unabashed lovers of fast food. These Fast Foodies are young (mostly 25-34), lower-income, and many are seeing the neighborhoods around them slowly disappear.

From that insight, we saw an opportunity to tell Rick Ross’s rags to riches story and help him launch the Buy Back the Block movement.

Our strategy became bigger than just selling burgers: it became one that would help empower our audience.

Checkers has a genuine connection with members of the community who are their biggest fans.

Their audience is mostly lower-income, and can spot insincere attempts from brands. We needed to find a way to connect with them in a genuine way, with a limited budget.

The opportunity we saw for the brand centered around the fact that much of our target lives in areas that are slowly disappearing as they lose ownership of the community. They feel like they’re being pushed out of the neighborhoods they’ve called home for years.

And the success of Checkers is directly tied to the success of these communities.