Master this game like a Pitmaster

Quiktrip wanted to launch their new pit-smoked Brisket Sandwiches in a unique way. And with a limited budget, we had to land on something with one clear goal: real smoked brisket that takes hours to cook just like a competition pitmaster would cook it.

If you build it, they will play

Quiktrip is not just your average gas station. With a cult-like following, super fast customer service and endless high quality food option for on-the-go, the really do live up to their tagline: "More than a gas station." So, when QT wanted to launch their new pit-smoked BBQ sandwiches, we set out to prove they spend just as much time smoking their mouth-watering brisket and pulled pork meat as you would at home.

We had an idea.

Let’s create a stupid and absurd game that requires the same amount of time it takes for QT to smoke their BBQ... 8 hours minimum. If people played the game, they’d win drink coupons, free BBQ and more. We thought surely no one would play this stupid game, but not only did they play it — some even hacked it for the 8 hour limit to win a year’s supply of FREE QT BRISKET SANDWICHES.

Pixel art of a character from 8-bit pitmaster game with a yellow background, a floating brown bear head with candy in its ears, raining down onto a character wearing glasses and a black and red outfit.

A red background with pixel art graphics and text promoting a mobile game called '8 Bit Pitmaster'. The game involves holding a finger on a phone screen to smoke pork for 8 hours. The image features a large sandwich with pulled pork and a bun, and a smartphone with a timer and pixel art showing a piece of meat.

Give the people what they want

QT has a loyal fan base, but launching this game took it to another level. Some fans even hacked the game and became obsessed with winning. Like Justin Thomas—who slept with his finger tapped to his phone just to win a sandwich.

Screenshot of a Facebook comment by Justin Thomas giving humorous advice involving finger-taping to a phone, eating a sandwich, and having fried jalapenos from a custom order.

Three smartphone screens display ads for a mobile game called '8-Bit Pitmaster.' Each ad features pixel art graphics and play buttons, with humorous text about cooking or playing the game. The posts are from QuikTrip and include engagement icons and comments below.

Social media analytics report showing metrics from November 20 to December 15 with bold statistics on page views, unique users, total acquisition, engagement, and comments.

Screenshot of a digital publication with headlines about mobile games and BBQ, including logos of Convenience Store, Little Black Book, CSP, and CStore Decisions.