Five Guys CEO Handed Out $1.5 Million in Employee Bonuses After Failed BOGO Deal: 'I Didn’t Want Anyone Shooting Me'

Chiara KimThu, March 26, 2026 at 9:44 PM UTC

0

Credit: Dawson/Bloomberg via Getty -

The CEO of Five Guys gave out $1.5 Million in employee bonuses after an overwhelming BOGO deal that overextended the stores

Jerry Murrell told Fortune that he “didn’t want anybody shooting me in the back” after the incident

Five Guys offered a second BOGO promotion that the stores adequately prepared for from March 9 to 12

The Five Guys CEO is working to make amends with his employees.

After a failed buy one, get one (BOGO) offer to celebrate the burger chain’s 40th anniversary, CEO Jerry Murrell, 82, gave out 1,500 checks ($1,000 per impacted store) to his employees totaling to a value of $1.5 million, per an interview with Fortune.

“I didn’t want anybody shooting me in the back or anything after the first day, because we really screwed it up. We had no idea that we were going to get that kind of response,” he joked.

Murrell jokingly said that he got the money for the bonuses from funds he was going to use to buy his wife a fur coat.

“She still looks at me like I’m stupid,” he said. “But I thought it was worth it. They worked so hard. They were so overwhelmed.”​

Five Guys CEO Jerry Muller gave out $1.5 million in bonuses after a failed BOGO promotionCredit: PAUL J. RICHARDS/AFP via Getty

Five Guys announced in a press release a second redemption BOGO promotion after the first, which was intended to celebrate the chain's 40th anniversary, was met with unprecedented demand on Feb. 17. The initial promotion led to stores running out of food, long lines and overwhelmed workers.

“You visited our restaurants in overwhelming numbers, and we weren’t ready for you,” the company admitted in the press release. “We didn’t meet our own standards, and that’s not something we take lightly.”

Advertisement

Murrell told Fortune he was genuinely astonished by the turnout.

“I always think it’s funny when people go to sales. I never thought they worked. We tried this one, buy one, get one free. Holy smokes. I couldn’t believe all the people that jumped on that," he said. "I thought maybe increased sales like 20% or something—that was like 130%. So I felt I screwed up."

Per the release, the company said they would give their workers, who were “put in an incredibly difficult position, approximately $1.5 million for “the way they performed under pressure.”

The company announced a second BOGO offer in the release called the “40th After Party” from March 9 to 12, promising to be prepared this time.

Per Fortune, the second promotion was a success – “the crew did good that day, because they were prepared, but they worked so hard that I thought, now I better give them a bonus,” Muller said.

Five Guys did not immediately reply to PEOPLE's request for comment.

on People

Original Article on Source

Source: “AOL Entertainment”