Why you won't have ever seen an advert for Five Guys in the UK

It may be your favourite cheat meal and understandably so, with its delicious burger patties and freshly cooked fries, what's there not to love?

Five Guys is a fast food favourite for many in the UK, but the one thing you may wonder is how you heard of it in the first place.

Maybe it was through word of mouth, or maybe you saw a picture of a friend eating there on social media.

One place you definitely didn't find out about the American chain though, was through advertising.

This is because the company actually choose not to do any marketing or advertising, in any country.

It's an odd and peculiar choice at first glance, but the traditional move hasn't seemed to affect the success of the franchise much at all - with it still being a popular choice among members of the public despite their high prices.

The decision to stay out of online advertising is one that is taken very seriously by those high up at the company, and this includes the CEO of the European division, John Eckbert.

He made an appearance on The Diary of a CEO podcast with Steven Bartlett, and explained the company's marketing strategy - or lack of it - and why it works for them.

Bartlett asked Eckbert why the chain don't advertise online, and if they're ever tempted to put an ad on Facebook - especially during the pandemic.

This cames after the fact that they'd began to feature on food delivery apps like Uber Eats and Deliveroo in the UK, as they don't in the US.

The Five Guys Europe CEO explained, while chuckling: "It's really tempting isn't it?

"When you think about the dashboard that most food and beverage executives have, you have an advertising dial, where you can choose the quality of your messaging and the budget you put in, and the way you spend it."

"[For Five Guys] all those dials are gone and off the table, so it does focus you on the things that you can do,

"Which is making great burgers and fries, hiring people who are passionate about it."

Eckbert then said that the people running 'the stores' make such a difference, and that food at the end of the day is all about 'passion', saying that you link good food to happy experiences you have in your life - such as a nice holiday.

It's an interesting take on it all, and some agreed with this strategy - as one person wrote on YouTube: "It's so weird how I didn't realise that Five Guys don't advertise at all and yet I know about it.

"John is right. The product is so good that it sells itself."

Another said: "Interesting... It really does say something that you rely solely on the quality of your product to attract new customers."