What it had to solve
The pandemic had hammered casual dining, and Applebee's US same-store sales were far below pre-COVID levels. In June 2021 country singer Walker Hayes released 'Fancy Like', a love song about date night at Applebee's — 'got that Bourbon Street steak with the Oreo shake' — and the TikTok dance he filmed with his daughter went viral, spawning hundreds of millions of views and a wave of fan videos.
The idea
Don't invent a trend — join the viral one celebrating the brand: partner Walker Hayes on #FancyLike, amplify fans' TikTok dances, and make the song's lyrics orderable.
How it works
Applebee's and Grey New York moved fast: they licensed the song and built a TV spot from curated, cleared TikTok clips of everyday people doing the dance, with Walker Hayes alongside. They backed it with a 'Fancy Like' meal offer and brought back the Oreo Cookie Shake the lyrics name-dropped, turning the song into a menu customers could order.
What it did
Applebee's outpaced competitors' sales by 9.3%, per Effie, and US same-store sales rose 102% year over year in the quarter ending June 30, 2021 — 10.5% above 2019, the brand's best quarterly performance versus 2019 in over a decade. Grey reports 4.3 billion earned impressions, and the campaign won the 2022 US Grand Effie plus Cannes Lions.
Background
Coming out of the pandemic, Applebee's was not doing well: dining rooms had been closed and same-store sales had plummeted. Then, in June 2021, country singer Walker Hayes released 'Fancy Like', a love song set on a date night at Applebee's — 'We fancy like Applebee's on a date night, got that Bourbon Street steak with the Oreo shake' — and the dance he filmed with his daughter exploded on TikTok.
Instead of launching a conventional campaign, Applebee's and Grey New York stepped into the moment that was already happening. They licensed the song, and their TV spot was built from curated and cleared TikTok clips of real people doing the dance, with Hayes appearing alongside. To make the lyric tangible, they launched a 'Fancy Like' meal and brought back the Oreo Cookie Shake the song had name-dropped.
The results were a turnaround. Effie's release says Applebee's outpaced competitors by 9.3%, and CNN reported US same-store sales up 102% year over year in the quarter ending June 30, 2021 — 10.5% above 2019, the brand's best quarterly comp performance versus 2019 in over a decade. Applebee's president John Cywinski credited the song's virality across TikTok, Instagram and YouTube for creating the buzz.
The campaign made 'Fancy Like Applebee's' the feel-good catchphrase of summer 2021, drew an estimated 4.3 billion earned impressions, and became an effectiveness landmark: it won the Grand Effie at the 2022 Effie Awards US, with judges noting the team followed culture rather than trying to create it.
Why it lands
The brand recognized that a genuine cultural movement about its product already existed and joined it as a participant instead of interrupting it with an invented idea.
Using real people's licensed TikTok clips made the ad feel like an extension of the fan movement rather than a corporate takeover.
Product followed the culture: bringing back the Oreo Cookie Shake turned a lyric millions were singing into something orderable that same week.
Speed and media weight converted a trending moment into staying power, which is what Effie's effectiveness framework rewards.
What you can take
When culture is already celebrating your brand, don't buy the trend from outside — join it with the actual creators, then make what the culture named (the Oreo shake) something customers can order.
Since then
The 'Fancy Like' wave carried Applebee's through its strongest quarter in over a decade and gave the brand its first sustained cultural relevance in years. Grey's case page credits the campaign with billions of earned impressions and reports it won a 2022 Grand Effie plus Cannes Lions in Entertainment (Music) and Social & Influencer. The campaign became a standard case study in brand-agility and earned-media playbooks, and the Oreo Cookie Shake stayed on menus as a permanent souvenir of a moment that started with one singer's TikTok dance.
FOLLOW THE EVIDENCE