Hall became known for his creative marketing campaigns and publicity stunts. Minute Man was the first fast food restaurant to give a free glass to customers as part of a Coca Cola promotion in the early 1970s. Additionally, Minute Man was the first to offer a specialty meal for children, called the Magic Meal. Burger King bought the rights to use the Magic Meal concept and name for 1982-1983. Minute Man’s rights to the slogan “old–fashioned hamburgers” were later sold to Wendy’s. But the most outlandish campaigns started with Arkansans abroad who wrote home grieving their separation from their local Minute Man.
The first came from UALR student John Carland in 1965, who was studying in India at the time. When Hall heard of his hunger pangs, he sent someone to escort a Minute Man hamburger all the way to Madras to grant Carland’s wish. Some years later, Jacksonville native Sharon Campbell found herself in the same desperate situation after her family moved to a military base in Tehran, Iran. This time, Hall trained up and sent Jacksonville mayor John Harden to cook the burgers barbecue-style for Campbell and a host of friends. In both cases, Minute Man ingredients were packed into styrofoam boxes with dry ice and carried on a plane. It is unclear whether the trips were funded by the company or Hall himself, but with airfare reaching over $1,000 each time, it would have been a grand gesture either way. Local papers in Arkansas would follow the evolution of these events for weeks.
(Find out more about the collection by visiting the finding aid online.)
