The food and beverage industry continues to evolve with creative brand collaborations, and Wahlburgers just delivered a masterclass in entertainment marketing with their latest limited-time offering. Starting today, September 30th, the Mark Wahlberg-founded restaurant chain is rolling out an exclusive menu inspired by the upcoming Prime Video thriller “Play Dirty,” which premieres tomorrow, October 1st.
This collaboration showcases how food and beverage companies can leverage entertainment partnerships to drive traffic, create buzz, and offer customers experiences that extend far beyond the plate. For restaurant marketing professionals and foodservice executives, this campaign offers valuable insights into cross-industry partnerships that actually move the needle.
The Star of the Show: Stackhouse Smashburger
The centerpiece of this promotional menu is the Stackhouse Smashburger, a creation that lives up to its name with serious stacking power. This isn’t your typical menu innovation – it’s a strategic play that combines premium ingredients with over-the-top execution.
The burger features two Certified Angus Beef patties blended with brisket and short rib, creating a protein foundation that speaks to current food and beverage trends toward premium, artisanal meat preparations. The toppings tell a story of indulgence: white cheddar, government cheese, crispy onion rings, crispy fried pickles, lettuce, tomato, onion, and housemade Cowboy Sauce made with spicy garlic-herb butter, all served on a toasted brioche bun.
For food and beverage directors analyzing this approach, the Stackhouse Smashburger demonstrates several key trends:
- Protein stacking to justify premium pricing
- Textural variety with multiple crispy elements
- Housemade sauces that create differentiation
- Government cheese nostalgia marketing
Customers can upgrade to a triple patty version and add French fries or tater tots, pushing the average check higher while creating Instagram-worthy moments that fuel social media marketing.
The Chicken Stackhouse variant applies the same winning formula to a seared chicken breast, showing how successful food and beverage companies adapt core concepts across proteins to maximize menu efficiency.
Wicked Sodas: The Beverage Innovation Play
The beverage program for this collaboration demonstrates sophisticated thinking about the beverage industry landscape. The “Wicked” soda lineup includes:
Wicked Vanilla Cola transforms classic Coca-Cola with vanilla syrup and a half & half float, creating a creamy, retro experience that taps into nostalgic food and beverage trends. At select locations, customers can spike it with Tito’s Vodka, bridging the gap between family dining and adult beverage sales.
Wicked Root Beer elevates the classic with caramel syrup and half & half, offering a Boston-inspired twist that connects to the Wahlberg brand’s Massachusetts roots while appealing to customers seeking healthy meals near me alternatives to traditional sodas.
The Espresso Martini rounds out the adult beverage selection with SKYY Vodka, Caffè Borghetti Espresso Liqueur, and espresso – “shaken, never stirred” – creating a coffee cocktail that aligns with current caffeinated alcohol trends.
For beverage industry professionals, this lineup demonstrates how to:
- Elevate familiar flavors with premium ingredients
- Create optionality (virgin vs. spiked) to maximize market appeal
- Use regional storytelling to differentiate offerings
- Integrate coffee culture into cocktail programs
Entertainment Marketing Execution
Wahlburgers didn’t just launch a menu – they created an experience ecosystem around the “Play Dirty” partnership. The execution included two major promotional events that provide a blueprint for restaurant marketing success.
On September 24th, the brand orchestrated an adrenaline-fueled event where social media stars participated in an epic “car chase” through the city, ending at a speakeasy where Mark Wahlberg filmed promotional content and conducted a tasting session with food influencer Jolly. This event generated authentic content while creating multiple touchpoints for social media amplification.
The September 28th Twitch collaboration took a different approach, partnering with the streaming platform for a live pre-game tailgate where Wahlberg and Twitch streamer Will Neff crafted the Play Dirty Burger together. The live-streamed event combined real-time engagement with on-site sampling, creating both digital and physical experiences.
These activations demonstrate how food and beverage management teams can maximize promotional investments by:
- Creating content-worthy experiences that extend reach beyond paid media
- Partnering with platform-specific influencers to reach targeted audiences
- Generating multiple content pieces from single events
- Connecting celebrity ownership with authentic participation
Industry Implications and Lessons
This collaboration offers several takeaways for food and beverage services professionals looking to drive comparable results:
Celebrity Brand Alignment: The natural connection between Mark Wahlberg’s film career and restaurant ownership created authentic collaboration opportunities that feel organic rather than forced. For brands without celebrity owners, finding authentic connection points with entertainment properties becomes crucial.
Limited-Time Urgency: By launching September 30th for an October 1st premiere, Wahlburgers created immediate urgency while giving customers a narrow window to participate in the cultural moment.
Multi-Platform Activation: The combination of traditional PR, social media events, streaming platform partnerships, and influencer collaborations created multiple entry points for discovery and engagement.
Premium Positioning: Rather than competing on price, the menu items justify premium pricing through ingredient quality, preparation complexity, and experiential value.
According to Randy Sharpe, CEO of Wahlburgers, “‘Play Dirty’ is all about grit, boldness and a little edge, and each item in this collaboration was designed to bring that same energy into our signature Wahlburgers experience.”
The Future of Food and Entertainment Partnerships
This collaboration signals broader trends in the food and beverage industry toward entertainment integration. As streaming platforms continue expanding content libraries and seeking promotional partnerships, food service industry operators have opportunities to create compelling tie-ins that drive traffic and generate buzz.
For procurement directors and institutional buyers, these partnerships demonstrate how menu innovation can extend beyond ingredient sourcing to encompass cultural relevance and marketing integration.
The success of this campaign will likely inspire similar collaborations across the hospitality industry, particularly as consumers increasingly expect brands to provide experiences rather than just products.
The Wahlburgers “Play Dirty” collaboration represents more than a promotional menu – it’s a case study in how food and beverage companies can leverage entertainment partnerships to create cultural moments that drive business results. For industry professionals, this campaign provides a roadmap for developing authentic, multi-platform activations that extend brand reach while delivering measurable ROI.
The limited-time menu is available at participating North American Wahlburgers locations, with prices varying by location. As “Play Dirty” premieres tomorrow on Prime Video, the real test will be whether this promotional strategy translates to sustained traffic and sales growth for the restaurant chain.
Written by Michael Politz, Author of Guide to Restaurant Success: The Proven Process for Starting Any Restaurant Business From Scratch to Success (ISBN: 978-1-119-66896-1), Founder of Food & Beverage Magazine, the leading online magazine and resource in the industry. Designer of the Bluetooth logo and recognized in Entrepreneur Magazine’s “Top 40 Under 40” for founding American Wholesale Floral. Politz is also the founder of the Proof Awards and the CPG Awards and a partner in numerous consumer brands across the food and beverage sector.
