---
title: "A&W Turns Their Employees Into Celebrities in Hiring Push"
url: https://burnaze.com/article/23f6c7b3-043b-45aa-8c8f-8001924a66e1
source: "1851 Franchise"
original_url: https://1851franchise.com/aw-turns-their-employees-into-celebrities-in-hiring-push-2717428
category: "Burger"
industry: "Restaurants"
segment: "Burger"
topics: ["Operations"]
published: 2021-12-09T15:10:00.000Z
modified: 2026-11-01T02:13:27.240Z
image: https://newimage.1851franchise.com/cdn-cgi/image/quality=85,format=webp,width=1280,height=720/story/featureImage/37dff2d7fa3f2f11b33b427d4b8154f648.jpg
---

# A&W Turns Their Employees Into Celebrities in Hiring Push

**TL;DR:** A&W Restaurants is launching a hiring campaign that showcases its employees as celebrities to attract new talent and promote the brand's values. The campaign aims to create a positive and fulfilling experience for employees, addressing the labor shortages and challenges in the restaurant industry.

*originally published in 1851 Franchise on 2021-12-09. [Read the original](https://1851franchise.com/aw-turns-their-employees-into-celebrities-in-hiring-push-2717428).*

## Story

If you've ever wondered what it’s like to be a celebrity, A&W is giving employees the opportunity to experience that feeling through their new hiring campaign.

While other brands are using actual celebrities in their marketing campaigns to promote products and experiences, A&W is turning the tables and showcasing employees to show that no matter who you are A&W will appreciate you and treat you like family.

The restaurant industry is no stranger to the wider staffing shortages and labor challenges businesses are facing throughout the country. A&W’s CEO Kevin Bazner told FOX Business that the labor shortage is creating a domino effect.

“[Restaurants have] no manager, then you lose staff to next door businesses, and, before you know it, you can’t open a restaurant,” he told FOX Business.

The franchise owners of A&W locations are invested in supporting the local economies in which their stores are located.

“We want to create a brand experience that feels localized to a particular area. Our brand seeks to be a pillar of the community by building an emotional connection with prospective employees and then increasing loyalty and retention for existing employees so that they feel proud about their jobs and their contributions to the success of the business,” said A&W franchisee and NAWFA board member, Randy Hamann.

In other words, A&W wants to create a positive and fulfilling experience for its employees, not just a job.

“Whether it’s Gen Z or Gen Z employees, COVID has taken a toll, and we want people to actually look forward to going to work,” says Liz Bazner, senior director of marketing at A&W Restaurants. “We have a unique opportunity to show our employees that we’re a community that understands them, embraces them, and is excited to see them thrive in any job opportunity at A&W Restaurants.”

Bazner added that A&W Restaurants is taking an “anti-celebrity” approach to attracting talent, unlike other fast food chains that are using celebrities to attract guests and talent.

“Our approach is about both lifting up our team members and encouraging prospective employees to also become a celebrity in our eyes,” she said.

The efforts by A&W Restaurants thus far appear to be working, as one franchisee in Minnesota said.

“I love seeing my employees coming into work excited about the day and what their talents bring to the business,” Julie Glenz of Albany and Richmond, Minnesota’s A&Ws said. “And it’s so much fun celebrating them the way that we do — from fry cooks to the drive-thru window, it’s been a treat to see how much we can make work not feel like ‘work.’”

*The total investment necessary to begin operation, not including rent or land costs, is $871,000 to $1,454,750 for a Freestanding Restaurant; $401,000 to $1,013,750 for an Inline Restaurant; and $276,000 to $704,000 for a Captive Restaurant, including a $15,000-$30,000 franchise fee.*

## Entities

- 1851 Franchise (publication)
- Restaurants (sector)
- Gen Z (person)
- Fox Business (company)
- A&W Restaurants (company)
- labor shortage (topic)
- brand values (topic)
- Kevin Bazner (person)
- hiring campaign (topic)
- employee appreciation (topic)

---
Originally reported by 1851 Franchise (https://1851franchise.com/aw-turns-their-employees-into-celebrities-in-hiring-push-2717428). Summarized by Burnaze (https://burnaze.com/article/23f6c7b3-043b-45aa-8c8f-8001924a66e1).