Hasta La Creative!

Drake, the Canadian hip-hop star, taking a minority stake in Dave’s Hot Chicken, the fried-chicken chain that’s backed by investors such as Boston Red Sox Chairman Tom Werner and actor Samuel L. Jackson.

Dave’s Hot Chicken is following a celebrity-driven playbook that’s similar to that of Blaze Pizza, which shares a leadership team with Dave’s and counts NBA superstar LeBron James as an investor.

Subscribe to Ad Age now for award-winning news and insight.

Launched in 2017, Dave’s Hot Chicken now has 22 locations, mostly in California, and is planning 25 more by the end of the year, with expansion to cities including Chicago and Houston. Drake, one of the world’s best-selling musicians, has already posted a picture of himself with chicken tenders, pickles and fries from Dave’s on Instagram.

“I tried the food and it was amazing. After meeting the founders and hearing their story, I jumped at the opportunity to invest,” Drake said in a statement.

Drake’s involvement will likely give the chain a celebrity boost. His most recent album, released earlier this month, sold the equivalent of 613,000 copies in the U.S. in its first week — the biggest opening since Taylor Swift’s “Folklore” last year. He has 39 million followers on Twitter and 92 million on Instagram. 

Drake will own less than 50% of the company but will be among the biggest investors alongside Werner and Jackson. The company didn’t give further details about his stake.

Dave’s Hot Chicken has posted a net loss of about $1.9 million so far in 2021 on revenue of nearly $9.1 million, the company wrote in an email. It has invested “more than $10 million” to grow in the U.S. The company’s leadership team has founded and led other restaurant companies including Wetzel’s Pretzels and Blaze Pizza. 

Dave’s Hot Chicken sells sliders, crinkle-cut fries and spicy tenders. It mostly advertises through social-media channels like Instagram and Twitter and has sold the franchise rights for more than 500 locations in the U.S. and Canada.

The chain is well-positioned thanks to its focus on chicken, which has gained popularity in recent years. Following a hit chicken sandwich from Popeyes in 2019, rival fast-food chains have sought to capitalize on the poultry craze. 

—Bloomberg News

YouTube offers a set of tools that are designed to help users manage their time on the video-sharing application. One of these tools will allow the app to tell users when it’s time to take a break. Our guide will show you how to turn on these break reminders from within the YouTube mobile app….

Starburst’s 2007 commercial “Bus Station” introduced us to a new character, the little lad who loves berries and cream, and a marketing star was born. Recently, the spot has made a surprise resurgence on TikTok, prompting new remixes of the character’s repetitive song and marionette-like dance moves. On this episode of Yeah, That’s Probably an…

When a Depression Sticks representative pitched his line of vapes to a gas station convenience store, he was confident in his ability to complete the sale. But after sharing that the smoking devices–which come in flavors like Melancholy Menthol and BubbleGlum–amplify feelings of sadness and anxiety, the clerk did not share an enthusiasm for the…

Marketer trade group wants industry leaders to meet to discuss measurement issues. 

Despite Google delaying third-party cookie deprecation until the end of 2023, the time to begin building a world of decentralized, first-party data is now.

NBC is backing the premiere of drama Ordinary Joe Monday night (Sept. 20) with an immersive quiz experience on Pinterest. The network teamed up with digital interactive experience platform Jebbit on the experience, which uses Creator Idea Pins to guide Pinners through a series of questions about their passions, and then generates tips to achieve…

A ByteDance vai impor limites de tempo a jovens com menos de 14 anos na China quando se tratando de seu principal produto, o TikTok. A companhia confirmou ao Bloomberg no último domingo (19) que vai estabelecer um “modo juventude” que vai impedir que usuários dessa faixa de idade utilizem por mais de 40 minutos …

Leia Na China, jovens só vão poder usar Tiktok por 40 minutos ao dia na íntegra no B9.

With a name like Candy Crush, the mobile app sounds like a sweet way to pass the time. Unless you’re Khlo? Kardashian, apparently, who takes crushing seriously when it comes to her competition, too. Those who also get zealous about being the best at matching and destroying candies can prove themselves in the first-ever Candy…

The workwear brand launches a ‘United by Good Work’ campaign.