A Winter Warmer

That famous marmot, Punxsutawney Phil, saw his shadow in early February, but here’s a story to warm you up while you’re making pizzas through a cold winter: Employees at the Flying Pie Pizzeria in Boise, Idaho, collectively saved 10% of their tips for 13 years (!), and now they’re prepared to cash in on a Caribbean vacation. According to the website walletpop.com, employer Howard Olivier “will be shutting down both of his pizza making operations for a week, and will be joining his dedicated employees for a long-deserved stay in beautiful Costa Rica.” IdahoStatesman.com reported that 62 people are going on the trip, including the staff of the two pizzerias plus their families, with the tab for the entire group coming to $116,000. Oliver even agreed to pay his employees during their time off.

At one point, the group had decided on Hawaii as their dream destination, but many of their customers talked them into Costa Rica as more economical. Lesley

Juel, marketing director for Flying Pie, told IdahoStatesman. com: “We decided we didn’t want to spend our entire time in a hotel where it’s $30 a sandwich and it’s hot and humid.”

Franchisees Score During Super Bowl Despite the economic downturn, franchises spent the most money on expensive Super Bowl advertising this year. In fact, for the 21st time in 22 years, the percentage of Super Bowl ads purchased by franchisors outnumbered nonfranchised enterprises. During Super Bowl XLIII, companies engaged in franchising outspent all other combined enterprises during the four-hour game broadcast.

According to American Association of Franchisees and Dealers (AAFD) chairman Robert Purvin, “Super Bowl advertising continues to demonstrate the power of franchising. How else can small business owners afford to share their messages with almost 100 million households at one time?”

NBC reportedly charged a record-setting average price of almost $3 million per 30-second spot ($100,000 per second). The higher cost didn’t seem to impact advertiser demand, as NBC reported it sold out the available 69 national network spots. For a single 30-second spot of $1.5 million, the advertising cost for a ubiquitous franchise such as McDonald’s (which aired two ads this year) breaks down to under $100 per store when divided among the approximate 15,000 U.S. restaurants in the chain. “The collective marketing power among

franchised businesses is formidable,” conc ludes Purvin.

Pizzas 4 Patriots Sends Pizza and Beer to Troops

The Pizzas 4 Patriots program ( www.pizzas4patriots.com) is For its latest goodwill gesture, the members of the Illinois at it again. Readers may recall that the group, based outside National Guard, stationed in Iraq and Afghanistan, were of Chicago, arranged for Chicago deep-dish pizzas to be sent treated to a special Super Bowl party—albeit at 4 a.m.— to servicemen overseas for Veteran’s Day and the Fourth of complete with pizza and beer courtesy of the nonprofit group.

July. The group has also Pizzas 4 Patriots was founded by retired Air Force Master Sgt.

had pizzas delivered to Mark Evans from Elk Grove Village, Illinois. He says the group

VA hospitals around has a simple goal. “It is our goal to make our service personnel

the Chicago area. feel they are not forgotten,” he declares. “When people donate

gifts to this cause, it lets our military know they are remembered and appreciated by the country and residents who enjoy the freedoms that they provide for us.”

Much coordinating goes into such a mission. According to the group’s website, the Pizzas 4 Patriots volunteers worked closely with General David Petraeus and his staff to arrange transportation; it took almost 10 days, at least four flights and three military convoys to get the pizza and beer to the servicemen’s mountainous mess hall.

All told, 2,000 frozen pizzas from Lou Malnati’s, a popular chain in the Chicago area, and 6,000 bottles of Schlitz left Chicago on January 23 to make it in time for the February 1 game. “We’re going to continue to provide a slice of home for our troops,” Evans said of the program’s future.