And if you've read Today papers, you know that MacDonald's Singapore is giving away 100,000 FREE Egg McMuffins again this year.
It seems not so long ago when I read the news about people queueing up as early as 4am. And yes, some queued overnight so that they would not overslept and miss out on the free breakfast.
News spread like fire when it was first announced and you see people making changes to their sleeping patterns and routines just for this day. Newspapers and online communities were flooded with photos of queues at various outlets posted by people. There's even a grapevine on where are the outlets which still have FREE Egg McMuffins available.
The only difference is National Breakfast Day was 18 March last year and falls on 17th March this time round.
That piqued my interest.
Did you know that there has never been a National Breakfast Day? You have "Ice Cream For Breakfast Day" and "National Better Breakfast Day." But no National Breakfast Day. In fact, there's no National Breakfast Day until last year.
For the most of us, we would have thought that this special day originated from the west to commemorate a special event in history. Or perhaps started by someone to mark an event.
In fact, this whole thing is started by MacDonald last year across countries in Asia, Middle East and Africa. According to Andrew Hipsley, chief brand officer for these regions, the campaign aims to remind people about waking up to better mornings with breakfast.
So what can you learn about it?
1. Creating something out of nothing
There wasn't any National Breakfast Day before last year. MacDonald created it out of thin air and tied it successfully to their products.
2. Creating a buzz
By giving out 100,000 FREE Egg McMuffin, it created a buzz that makes it difficult for people not to share the news.
3. Free publicity
MacDonald probably earns free publicity and exposure worth millions of dollars compared to the costs of giving out the FREE food.
4. Making it fun
There's no doubt that most of the people who queued for the FREE food can afford to pay for it. But it is more than about the FREE food for a lot of them. The thrill of staying up all night with friends, the joy of going for breakfast together with family, the opportunity to do something different from routine and the excitement of being in the action makes it all fun. And when you finally get your FREE burger, its a sign of victory written all over your face.
5. They are more than just a fast food restaurant
MacDonald probably doesn't need the publicity and exposure. They probably don't even need the extra sales from people coming in for breakfast. But they need to continue creating the experience of Happy Times.
At this point, most people will brush off the idea that it's not relevant to their businesses. After all, MacDonald is BIG. They can afford to do that. But to copy exactly what they do misses the point.
You need to take the idea and see how you can apply it to your business creatively.