I Heart Cookies, a traveling cookie trailer, brought a bit of Jurassic Park to the parking lot of Gibson’s last Tuesday with their unique marketing strategies.
Originating in Wichita, Kansas, I Heart Cookies is known for their deep dish cookies, bright pink trailer, and their eye-catching ways of attracting customers.
“ We’re a traveling dessert company, right now we are making our way through Texas, since its warmer here. We just sell cookies and bring dinosaurs, that’s about it,” said I Heart Cookies employee, Eli Stolz.
The set-up included a variety of activities for customers, including animatronic dinosaurs, photo opportunities, and fossil-digging. Potential customers – and especially their children – are drawn in by the dinosaur sideshow and stay for the sweets.
Only open for five hours, the attraction is a very limited-time experience, since the I Heart Cookies trailer never stays in one place for long.
“ We travel to a different town every day. Yesterday we were in Kingsville, and then Victoria before that, and then Bastrop before that,” said Stolz.
Gibson’s General Manager, Doug Hetzler knew he wanted to host the cookie trailer and its dinosaur attraction after seeing their other outlandish but effective marketing tactics.
“At first they had this guy on stilts that would dress up as a Transformer to draw customers in. Then they decided to get a dinosaur. Then they got another dinosaur. When they called me asking to stop by while they were touring, I said absolutely,” said Hetzler.
The event lasted from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m. with a constant crowd of children flowing in and out of the parking lot attraction, especially during after-school hours.
For more information about I Heart Cookies and where their pink cookie trailer is heading next, visit their website at www.iheartcookiesco.com.