A&W is turning a South Asian menu hack into an LTO in a bid to authentically communicate with its audience.

The QSR’s Spicy Piri-Piri Buddy Burger is A&W’s first Buddy Burger that highlights a crispy hash brown as the star instead of meat, and is the byproduct of community-driven innovation. For years, A&W employees have been quietly building a “menu hack” for themselves as well as guests, predominantly from the South Asian community.

The brand’s Spicy Potato Buddy started out as an idea for an Ontario-only promotion, where the hash brown menu hack originated, explains A&W Canada marketing director, Amanda Wang. But Wang says the brand quickly realized the request to replace a meat patty with a hash brown was common for South Asian guests across the country.

Wang tells strategy that the QSR has had some past success in creating LTOs with specific regional tastes in mind. A&W has offered the Prairie-raised Bison Burger for Alberta, and the Royal Burger in Quebec built on a recipe featuring the brand’s Mozza Sauce.

For its new Spicy Piri-Piri Buddies, A&W worked with Rethink on mainstream creative and English Canada PR and media relations, and iProspect for media. Wang says that this campaign also marked the first time A&W has worked with Ethnicity Matters on a targeted multicultural marketing plan, to ensure the brand reached South Asian guests in their preferred language.

“As a first-generation Chinese-Canadian, I can speak from personal experience that it doesn’t feel great when brands come across like they’re just trying to make a fast buck off of you,” Wang says. “I never want to make our guests feel like that. We come from a place of wanting to welcome all communities and respond to their different needs.”

The brand also tapped content creators like Toronto’s Prayag Mishra, who has five million followers, to share his experience trying the new Spicy Piri-Piri Potato Buddy Burger at his local A&W. It’s part of a move to connect with younger demos on TikTok.

A&W’s LTOs are often driven by listening to consumers, especially on social, the brand says. For example, Rethink helped A&W revive the bacon and cheese Whistle Dog in response to repeated fan requests, and leveraged loyal fans’ songs about the cult item, which disappeared from menus in 2017 and which remains the most popular item requested back.

“I sound ancient saying this, but I truly think social media has given consumers a voice like never before,” Wang says. “I pay a lot of attention to what guests have to say, and what they think needs to be innovated or needs to make a comeback.”