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Comments:
peachsncreem - 2004-04-19 06:29:07
lol heya bob LADIES NIGHT! haha best thing ever ladies get in free and get free drink until a certain time....and if the place is swarming with ladies the guy will want to come but they have to pay so much to get in. and no free drinks for them mwahahahha
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louison - 2004-04-19 06:44:15
I once went to a "Shite Night". Basically the music was all 80's, some of it shite. Then every now and again the A team theme or the Ooompa Loompa song would play. Typing this out makes me realise just how shite it was, but hey it was fun at the time.
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cosmicrayola - 2004-04-19 06:54:50
A dance contest it always fun. Everyone moming in gets a number. The deal is that whoever stays "moving" on the dance floor the longest gets to drink for the rest of the night free. Chances are, you will have the winner staying on the floor long enough that by the time they get declared the winner, there isn't much time left for the free drinks! It's a win-win situation. Rules apply. They have to stay ON the dance floor. You could be nice and let them have one potty break if you wanted. Personally, I would. Then again, I'm not that nice.
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Kathy - 2004-04-19 07:40:02
From a local bar flyer seen last week:
DRINKIN WITH LINCOLN...I like this one simply because of the name. Penny beer & well drinks doesn't hurt either. Can you tell I live in a college town?
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Auburn Girl - 2004-04-19 08:04:33
Wait a minute, are these kind of specials still legal in Montgomery? I know Auburn banned penny beers and the such. Man I miss $2 32 oz long island ice teas. That sort of thing ALWAYS got the bar packed. Especially at places like Tigris that were known to have these sort of specials every week night. And since they were over at 9:00 it was packed early and stayed packed if a good dj or band was playing.
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Jenn - 2004-04-19 08:05:44
It was a Getaway theme, where you had to bring your packed bag to the bar with you, and be ready to leave on a weekend getaway straight from the bar. Everyone there that night bought a ticket at the door and were entered into a draw for two tickets to wherever the sponsoring airline flew (they narrowed it down to your choice of three or so fights that left within 2 hours that night). A limo took you and your companion straight from the bar to the airport if you won. The music that night would be themed to the places you could go - calypso, or cajun, or whatever. Two loser friends of mine won a trip to Montreal, grrr. But it was still cool.
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Hank - 2004-04-19 08:31:20
Sorry UB, I don't drink much at all, so this is the best I can do for ya: http://www.barmarketing.com/books.html
http://www.barmarketing.com/links.html
Hope this helps
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Sarah - 2004-04-19 08:47:23
Does this mean that your threats to stop writing are on hold for at least a year? I would hate to sue you for specific performance on my free subscription.
I was going to mention a variation on the Drinkin with Lincolin, but someone beat me to it.
Where I live they are into underwear contests, where participants show their thongs or what have you in exchange for hoots from the crowd and free drinks.
They attract a lot of men.
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Jenn - 2004-04-19 08:56:00
Quarter beer night. Bartender tosses a [real] quarter in the air -- patron guesses right, the beer is free. Patron guesses wrong they pay the usual cost. But you also pay a door charge of $5 to cover most of the free beers. By the end of the night, people are so shitfaced, they forget about tossing the quarter and just put it on their tab.
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Sarah - 2004-04-19 09:00:14
UB, I found this great article (3rd item) about a bar promotion gone horribly wrong.
http://www.cincypost.com/2004/04/17/briefs041704.html
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Dude - 2004-04-19 09:27:34
Louison is on it. Time-Warp Tuesday (as ripped off from a college bar in IL) - Bad 80s music all-night. Throw in a drink special and the college kids will come running.
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Sheila - 2004-04-19 09:29:25
In Holland at the frat parties (the fraternities are co-ed), they have a king and queen every year. And no one's allowed to pee at the parties until they do. The king and queen, however, wear Depends and sip very, very slowly.
Also, a psycho whore I'm working for in London (and am about to quit) sells VIP passes to clubs on eBay. She used to be a promoter, so she knows all the owners. It costs her nothing and she actually makes a living this way. Just a thought. . . .
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Brandi - 2004-04-19 09:36:11
Hmmmmmmm... Not everyone is going to arrive at the bar at the same time - and those who got there 10 min. before someone finally peed are going to be pissed that they only got 1 drink for their $15.
As a former coctail waitress, I've seen many promotions. I'd have to say the best ideas I've see are:
1. On karaoke night - each person who sings gets a coupon for a half-priced drink. Gets people up singing, and then drinking.
2. On a DJ night, the DJ announces drink specials that are good "for the 1st 10 (or 20 - depending on how many people are at the bar) people up to the bar" or good through the end of a song he plays. That gets them up to the bar quick for impulse purchases - some people buy two or three drinks at a time, while they are on "sale".
3. If the bar has a theme for the night (tropical, pajama party, barefoot, pimp n ho, neanderthal, etc.), it awards those who dress up with discounted drinks all night, and the person dressed the best gets a special prize (2 free drinks, free pitcher, whatever). People like having an excuse to dress up/down/ridiculously. But they do drink more when in costume, just to feel more comfortable being out in public in a hula skirt and coconut bra.
4. A "frequent drinkers card". Once someone purchases X number of drinks (card is stamped each time), they get one free. You gotta come up with something really funny for the card though - graphics/slogan that includes the bar name/address. Also, giving out free food (hotdogs, chips, etc.) always gets people to buy more drinks. Have a chili cookoff, people will buy LOADS of drinks then!
Sorry for taking up so much room in your comments section. Hope you come up with something great!
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Carolyn - 2004-04-19 09:43:47
Hey Bob, direct to you from T-Town,
Maritinis and Manicure night. Yeah, the cute nail tech sets up a little table and the fellows can buy their date a martini and a manicure. Tipping the nail tech of course who makes a killing in tips.
It's kinda out there but hey, it brings em in.
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christen - 2004-04-19 10:17:33
#1 is similar to the bladder busters idea but it's nickel beers, and the same concept applies... whoever pees first ruins the whole thing. You get more people this way, because a lot of people (well, college age people) don't even have $15 to shell out for cover... but a nickel (or a dime, or a quarter, whatever), now that's do-able. Just watch any corners or potted plants because seriously people will pee anywhere to avoid getting beaten up for being the first.
#2 Bucket of beer night. Now, I know you're thinking a "bucket" is six bottles on ice... oh hell no. This was a 5-gallon mop bucket filled with draft beer, everyone gets a plastic cup and a scooper and you drink it all, baby. Sad part was you had to have at least 4 people for a full bucket, 2 for a half.
#3 Cheap hot wings, the hotter the better because the hotter they are, the more beer you need.
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anakinvader - 2004-04-19 10:19:09
A great one that I have been privy to is the "Safe Sex Party"
Simply put decor is the safe sex themed with whatever you would like and then the trick is the drinks, you can only serve drinks that are sex related i.e. sex on the beach, blow jobs, orgasims, screaming orgasism and such then as a extra (I came up with this part myself) you can only drink things in a certain order...you can just walk in and have an "orgasism" without having a "sex on the beach" first...and so on, leave it up to your own will, remember that you are the DJ and like the voice of God all listen when you speak, take that power and enjoy it
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April Ann - 2004-04-19 10:21:34
The best promotion I recall was at a place that has a huge outdoor stage. To get people to show up on their opening night... they had Blue Oyster Cult. You probably don't have that kind of venue to work with... ah, well. It was the best I could think of.
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Craig - 2004-04-19 10:54:31
I did a blatter buster one, but it was a little different.
There was a cover at the door, when someone went to the bathroom the free drinks were over but drinks were a dollar, then after the next person went, drinks were $2, then the third person went so drinkswere $3, it's better that way so people don't feel cheating for dropping $15 then losing free drinks an hour later.
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Dee - 2004-04-19 11:12:21
A lot of people seem to really like the whole free drinks til someone pees thing. As a variation why not just make them pay to go to the bathroom too? (hahaha)
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libraryland - 2004-04-19 11:23:00
A bar in my town does Mystery Beer nights. For $2, you get whatever the bartender pulls out of a special cooler. It could be anything from Colt 45 to Guinness, with a predominance of good ole American beers like Bud. Pretty boring compared to some of these ideas, but the element of surprise is entertaining.
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warcrygirl - 2004-04-19 12:26:08
Man, that bladder buster promo, if I were there I'd piss in the first ficus tree (or other potted plant) the first chance I got. Would that count? How about adding a nice soundtrack of rain or a babbling brook to help them while they hold their pee?
Okay, so I'm evil...
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nobody - 2004-04-19 13:42:13
Never seen anything like this but I could imagine some cool bar promotions built around the whole current DIY trend - a night where a bartender teaches people to mix drinks, a blind mixing table where various unlabelled boozes have to be mixed by patrons and then drunk entirely for a free proper drink, a bring-your-own-whatever promotion where people have to bring something potable or edible and use it in a drink, prizes for best/weirdest/etc.
Nother idea - Gong Show for karaoke - that is, regular karaoke except the audience has the option to Gong the person offstage (could backfire though with people wanting the prize for themselves and gonging everybody else).
Faux Sports Drinking Games - preferably the bar could come up with one of their own that was themed, like to a tv show or particular record or whatever, but the upshot is that for the duration, the dj basically acts like a sportscaster, calling out the shots, and the people playing have giant numbers on them etc. - Professional Asshole, for example.
Loser contest - everybody has to drop a short description of the most embarrassing moment in their lives, then some of them (or all, whatever) are read out loud, and the one judged most embarrassing wins that person a prize/drinks/whatever
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same - 2004-04-19 13:43:41
Line breaks would have been nice, but I guess I'm supposed to use HTML breaks and not just paragraph breaks. Sorry.
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Julia - 2004-04-19 14:09:58
The best promotion ever was open bar for two hours (with food) and door prizes...one door prize being 'your rent paid for a year.' Now, considering this is NYC, that was one door prize people were sticking around to kill/maim the winner, er, say congrats to the winner. uhm, yeah, right.
An internet company, long since bust, sponsered the night. Gee, I wonder how they went broke?
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martin - 2004-04-19 15:28:54
Three words (or is it four?) Wet T-shirt contest. While a bit of a lame concept, perverse in nature and will surely not be something that you can provide on a consistent basis, nothing packs in the men folk faster than such an event. It is truly amazing what the power of just possibly seeing a nipple will do. Who needs drink specials as long as you have contestants? If you Flash it, they will come (and pay whatever you want to charge).
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Kim - 2004-04-19 17:52:58
I went to a party years ago that had a Drag Queen Race. Depending on floor space, there were lines separated by street cones, and at either end of each row was an assortment of adult dress up items (wigs, sunglasses, mumus, lingerie, grass skirts, etc.). One would have to down a shot at the beginning, run to the other end of the bar where onlookers put an item on him/her. The contestants downed another shot, and raced back to the beginning to repeat this process for a total time of two minutes. Whoever was the most amusingly dressed (judged by clapping of the onlookers) could win free drinks for the rest of the night. People will wear just about anything as long as they keep doing shots, and it is pretty amusing. Space might be an issue, of course, but I hope you get a lot of great ideas from everyone else.
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Brood - 2004-04-19 19:09:20
Upside-Down Margaritas. You pay however much, get in a spinny chair and lean your head back against the headrest. They pour margarita mix and tequila in your mouth and then spin the chair like crazy.
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stella - 2004-04-19 20:25:15
We have 99 cent Tuesdays. ANY beer for 99 cents. Heaven I tell you, Heaven.
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spike - 2004-04-19 20:46:26
Similar to Jenn's comment above - with the flipping of a coin. They call it 'Toss the Boss' at our local: you order your round, the bartender pulls out a coin and you call as they flip it. If you win, the 'Boss' pays, and your drinks are free. If you lose, you pay. It runs for three hours on a Sunday evening, and we rarely miss it. Top fun! Team it up with a pool or karaoke competition, and you can't lose!
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al - 2004-04-19 21:15:55
That one sounds like a lot of fun spike esp if you had trivia night with it. I'm such a sucker for bar trivia night!
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steve - 2004-04-19 23:06:03
I would try this: use any typical ladies night deal for a coupla weeks, then do like the wet-tshirt suggestion that someone gave, and other things that appeal to males. The switch has to be short notice so that the amount of women will be high. Keep switching which gender gets the better deal. Remember, it's not necessarily how creative you are, but rather how well you exploit them economically.
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Jennifer - 2004-04-20 00:27:39
don't hate me, but i am not too sure on the details, as it was quite some time ago. i'm sure you could come up with your own variation to offset the actual cost.
but you paid like $20 (you have the option) and you get like 20 tickets (not sure of the number) but they were good for so many shots or so many drinks. i was digging it! wished the bars around my house (this ws out of town) had such a thing.
GOOD LUCK! lets us know what you end up going with and how it all turns out!!
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Lily - 2004-04-20 00:29:12
I live right by the main bar for my university, and every Friday and Saturday they have 7-4-1 specials. 7 drinks (any drink: pint, shot, or mixed) for the price of one. Made a recent birthday party with 20+ friends much cheaper!
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steve - 2004-04-20 01:24:52
you guys are all fucking crazy. since when can a bar make money practically giving drinks away. 7 for the price of one means it has to bring in more than 10 times the people to be worth the effort
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Michelle - 2004-04-20 04:38:48
We have a little tradition in pubs in Australia. It's called 'Toss the Boss' and it goes as follows- for a certain period of time (either 1 1/2 or 2 hours, normally) every time a punter orders a drink/drinks, he is given a dice, which he tosses. Then the barman who has served him tosses. If the punter rolls a higher number than the barman, the punter does not have to pay for his drink/drinks. The trick to this is that after winning a few single drinks, most people will get cocky and order drinks for the entire bar - and lose. And you HAVE to pay for all drinks ordered.
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sarah - 2004-04-20 07:14:58
i like michelle's idea.
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nicky - 2004-04-20 08:17:32
In my town they outlawed Ladies Night as sexist so one of the local bars started Skirt Night. Anyone in a skirt drank for less (I don't remember if it was 1/2 price or doller beers or what). As a girl this was a lot of fun because you could drink for less and check out all the guys' legs. Later in the night after everyone was pretty drunk they usually had a "best legs" contest with a girl and a guy winner.
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another kim - 2004-04-20 08:57:25
One person above mentioned bar trivia; I second it. It's managed to make my friends and I near regulars at a place in NYC called Rocky Sullivan's.
Another bar in the area has movie night on Saturdays; just showing things on a big screen TV and a VCR. A $10 cover gets you a couple drinks and a bag of popcorn. They post the movie schedule in advance, and people are encouraged to come in some sort of costume relating to the movie (i.e., if they did GHOSTBUSTERS, dressing in Ghostbuster uniforms, as the movie's ghosts, etc.) and the best-dressed people drink free.
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Auburngirl - 2004-04-20 09:12:51
Yeah, bar trivia is huge in Auburn. And I agree, people are going overboard with the free alcohol. But the T-town suggestion (manicures) is great, could really get some of the non-military ladies up at the club. I know that if a man asked me to a bar for a manicure and drinks, and then when I got there there was a great DJ for partying, I'd stay all night. It'd work for first time dates and people married for years. Oh and frequent drinkers card would definitely go great at a military base.
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cloudywater - 2004-04-20 10:06:24
Pub quiz is huge up here in the frozen northland ... teams of five pay $10 to play, and there are 5 rounds. You'd need someone to help as scorekeeper, and then come up with 10 questions per round. Distribute pieces of paper for answers. Rounds here are usually: movies, music (a mix CD; play only the first four seconds and have 'em guess), pictures of celebrities, current events, etc. Winners get a free round, bottle of wine, free pint glasses, etc. It takes about two hours, and people order drinks/food the whole time.
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dumbchick - 2004-04-20 10:24:58
makeshift bikini contest. people make bikinis out of anything EXCEPT fabric and parade around in them, and the winner gets a prize.
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rivetergirl - 2004-04-20 14:58:23
While in grad school, I learned of the following 'contest;' the goal is to drink more cases of beer than was consumed the year before (how this became a contest, I will never know, but it is hugely popular). Basically, the way it works is: people come in small groups of around 4. They order a case of beer and continue to drink cases of beer until one (or more) of the people at their table is too drunk to keep drinking. The waiter kicks them out and someone else comes in and starts drinking. The beer is only slightly discounted so there is tons of profit and, of course, tons of shit-faced college students puking and peeing all over the place. It is so popular that usually the ATMs are drained of cash on that day.
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maddy - 2004-04-22 10:36:40
Kill-A-Keg. Everyone who walks through the door pays a set fee - say $5.00. The management taps a new keg of whatever crap they wanna get rid of. Everyone drinks that beer free 'til the keg's dead. It was a great promotion when I was in college, and one of the bars did it every Tuesday night. There was a live band playing, too. Of course way back then, it was $2.00 for Kill-A-Keg, but hey, that was the '80s. *sigh*.
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maddy, redux - 2004-04-22 10:46:34
Oh, and I used to go to a bar in NY right near my apartment, and every January they'd have a beach party. They'd bring in a ton of sand, plastic leis, inner tubes, beach balls, etc. and everyone who arrived in a bathing suit drank free. Since it was usually right around 32�F at the time, not too many people would show up in costume, but PLENTY of guys would show up to see the few girls in bikinis, and they'd be paying full price!
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Sarah - 2004-04-24 21:19:18
Drunk Jepoardy. I probably spelled that wrong, but oh well. You have to pay, lets say, 10 bucks to play. Before you get started, everyone has to have a bottle o' suds. Then, for every answer they get wrong after that, they have to buy themselves a shot and drink it. They end up getting drunk, so their answers will be wrong, and when they get the answer wrong, they have to spend more money on drinks. One round per game, infinite players per round, twenty questions per game.
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lily thai free movies - 2005-12-31 05:19:01
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