Every Wednesday from April 13th to May 4th, Krispy Kreme is selling a dozen original glazed donuts for the price of a gallon of regular gas. Each week, the chain will use Monday’s national average gas price to determine the advertising cost of its donuts.
On Monday, AAA put the national average at $4.11 a gallon. As of Wednesday, a dozen original glazed Krispy Kreme donuts are $4.11. That’s a good deal: A dozen original frostings usually go for at least $10 at Krispy Kreme. The donut chain often ties its promotions to current events. Last year, for example, customers who had been vaccinated against Covid-19 were given free donuts. In January, after the Red Cross said it was experiencing its worst blood shortage in over a decade, Krispy Kreme gave away donuts to blood donors.
With these promotions, Krispy Kreme was trying to “encourage people to take advantage of a kind offer from us to do something good for others,” Dave Skena, Krispy Kreme’s chief marketing officer, told CNN Business. In this case, “we’re just trying to help [people] come during the week.”
It’s also a way to keep Krispy Kreme in the minds of consumers and tempt new customers with a taste of the brand’s signature candy.
Why Krispy Kremes is Giving Away Its Signature Donuts
When Krispy Kreme gives away free donuts, it usually offers the original glazed donut rather than other flavors or specialties.
The glazed original is “our most popular donut,” Skena said. “That’s what kept us in business for 85 years.”
So why give away for free (or cheap)?
“It’s the brand experience that we really want [people] to have,” Skena said. In other words, Krispy Kreme wants to make the best possible first impression for customers who might try Krispy Kreme because of a promotion.
In addition, the original glaze is relatively easy to produce.
“It’s easier to make them” than more complicated flavors like Oreo or donuts for birthday cakes, Skena said. “We can make more of these faster. If we can handle these big spikes in demand, we need to be able to make a lot of donuts quickly.”
This is particularly useful if, for example, the price of oil suddenly falls and more people want to take advantage of the campaign. Krispy Kreme is ready for that possibility, Skena said.
“If gas prices went down in the next four weeks, even though it wasn’t that ‘good’ for us, we’d love to sell people two-dollar donuts.”