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We've also heard from customers that there is a billboard on Sheridan Road up in Zion and a scattering of smaller versions posted at numerous Metra and CTA platforms around town.
The campaign is a mystery to us. NBC brought in a New York crew ('cause apparently there aren't enough talented local videographers who could have done the job) to shoot the thing. They spent nearly three hours, plus set up time, interviewing Burt and shooting the food, none of which has surfaced as of yet.
The producer gave Burt very little information as to how the footage would be used. They did give us the impression that there were similar shoots going on in New York, and that the entire project was a cross tourism venture between the two cities; the Chicago segments would air in NYC and vice versa.
As of yet there does not appear to be any tourism campaign.
The other thought was that they might use the footage as "bump" material in and out of any Bears games that might show up on NBC. You've seen them before--let's say there's a game being played in Kansas City; they'll send a crew into some of the local Barbecue Joints to get kitchen footage, people eating ribs, etc. Then, as the game transitions to a commercial, they'll show that footage as a place identifier for the viewer.
But that's not what they did with the Burt footage.
Finally, I thought maybe they would use the footage to feed WMAQ's new digital sub-signal, Non-Stop Chicago, found over the air on 5.2. It's kind of like that Chicago's Best show on WGN; visit a bunch of nifty restaurants, boutiques, bars, quirky museums, and then package it as a "best of" show. Except this runs 24/7, so they need a lot of material to keep it going.
Other than the aforementioned commercials, no sign of Burt on Non-Stop Chicago.
So we're not sure what they'll ultimately use the interview for. There's no mention at all of the campaign (which also features a barber, a ballerina, and one of the Wiener's Circle girls, among other folks) on WMAQ's website. All we know is that Burt swears he didn't say, "I am a modern day blacksmith," and that they manipulated the audio to get those words into his mouth.
As for increased business, unless you know who Burt is and where his Place is located, the billboards tell you nothing. The only people who recognize him are the people who are already customers. Besides, between the LTH and other general internet chatter, constant reruns of "No Reservations", copies of Saveur magazine long held by out of towners waiting for their trip to Chicago, articles in Time Out, Rachel Ray, and Chicago magazines (plus who knows how many others we don't know anything about), and the excellent segment on Chicago's Best, well, holy crap, how much more business do you think we can accommodate?
And we're not complaining. Thank you very much for staying interested and your continued business. We'll try hard to keep you happy.
Buddy
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