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Lunar New Year is one of the most cherished holiday celebrations for AAPI people around the world, but still lacks awareness among the general public. Because of that, we wanted to approach the work from the viewpoint of someone who might be experiencing Lunar New Year's multi-generational traditions for the first time. We created a short film for Panda Express that established a new big idea for the brand moving forward: "Have you Eaten Yet?"
Panda Express is the largest Chinese restaurant chain in America. A symptom of success, this ubiquity has also led many people to see Panda as a faceless corporation, no different from its QSR competitors. But in reality, Panda Express is a family-owned restaurant, owned and operated by the same Chinese American family who founded it.
And therein lies our challenge: when people see Panda Express as more authentic, they are more likely to see the food as more desirable and craveable. So our job relaunching Panda Express has been to turn the brand from a ubiquitous corporate known brand into an authentic American-Chinese brand loved by millions of loyal fans.
Our film has been viewed over 31 million times with a media investment of just $775K. We achieved 258 million total earned media impressions with 100% positive/neutral sentiment. Paid media resulted in 140 million video impressions (up 62.7% vs goal); 860K clicks (up 137% vs goal).
During a period when the Limited Service Restaurant category experienced its weakest sales growth in a decade, Panda Express achieved remarkable results: Q1 2025 performance enabled Panda to grow market share by 0.2% - a significant achievement considering 40% of leading restaurant brands saw declining sales in 2024.
We took time to get inspiration from our personal experiences with LNY, as well as more mainstream US holidays as a known reference point. Doing a cultural audit of American Chinese culture led us to see a clear truth: American Chinese culture is one largely driven by the immigrant experience.
The gathering of all extended family is critical when you're in a new place. Lunar New Year is a holiday with higher stakes. Bigger families, with more different personalities coming together. A bigger generational divide between immigrant parents and their first generation kids.
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