Justin Bieber Meal and Merch Led to 10% Sales Increase for Tim Hortons

By Brendan Menapace

We knew the Justin Bieber branded meal at Tim Hortons, as well as the accompanying merchandise, sold well. But did you know that the partnership was so popular that it pretty much brought Tim Hortons' sales back to normal after sales declined?

Timmy's parent group Restaurant Brands International reported a 10.3% increase at stores during the 4th quarter of 2021, the time period when it introduced the Biebs line. That same quarter in 2020 saw an 11% decline, according to CNN.

Justin Bieber’s “TimBiebs” partnership with Tim Horton’s led to a 10.3% increase in sales in the fourth quarter of 2021, which reversed a 11% decline for the same quarter a year ago. pic.twitter.com/7y11aAucIJ

— Justin Bieber Crew (@JBCrewdotcom) February 15, 2022

It was a safe bet for Tim Horton's. Other big-time fast food chains like McDonald's were already using celebrity meal and merch deals to get people excited about the food and drive e-commerce sales. And Justin Bieber, being one of the biggest names in pop culture as well as sharing Tim Hortons' Canadian heritage, was a no brainer.

Tim Hortons had seen declines in sales due to the pandemic. Just like plenty of other restaurants, Timmy's saw fewer people leaving home to come to the store. So, like others before it, it needed to give customers a reason to come back to its stores, or at least buy something other than donuts online.

The Timbiebs promotion was "one of the more successful traffic-driving initiatives in recent memory, and outperformed internal expectations," Restaurant Brands International CEO Jose Cil said, according to CNN. He added that the promotion led to "unprecedented social engagement and increased appeal with younger guests."

That's the sweet spot. Not only did the promotion encourage people to come into stores, it created a wholly online element for e-commerce, something that directly appeals to younger demographics, i.e. the ones that are more willing to buy something with Justin Bieber's name on it.

The celebrity meal deal trend has cooled off a little bit. It seemed like every week McDonald's was rolling out a new partnership complete with a huge e-commerce store full of hoodies and pillows.

With Tim Horton's success so plainly visible, it won't come as a shock to see more fast food chains continue this trend, whether they've been adversely affected by the pandemic or not.