Five Guys' 40th-anniversary BOGO deal caused chaos—and $1.5M in bonuses

Five Guys is rewarding employees after an unexpectedly overwhelming promotion put heavy pressure on store crews. The burger chain said it was distributing about $1.5 million in bonuses to workers after a buy-one-get-one (BOGO) deal on Feb. 17, which was launched to celebrate its 40th anniversary but quickly exceeded expectations. "The promotion spread far beyond what we anticipated, and our hardworking crews were placed in a difficult situation," Five Guys said in a Feb. 18 statement.

The company noted some locations ran out of food, closed early and experienced online ordering issues. "We also want to recognize the incredible men and women working in our restaurants," the statement continued. "They handled it with the same grit and dedication that has defined Five Guys for four decades."

CEO Jerry Murrell told Fortune he wrote 1,500 bonus checks, acknowledging the company underestimated demand and wanting to recognize employees for handling the surge. "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," Murrell told the outlet.

Five Guys brought back the BOGO offer from March 9-12.