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Sonic Drive-In to partner with X Games to host the extreme sports competition at the end of JuneSonic Drive-In to partner with X Games to host the extreme sports competition at the end of June

The quick-service restaurant chain will set up a racecourse and food sampling area at the event.

Bret Thorn, Senior Food Editor

May 31, 2024

2 Min Read
SONIC Park Course
A rendering of the Sonic Park CourseX Games

Sonic Drive-In is sponsoring the X Games taking place in Ventura, Calif., at the end of June, the quick-service chain said.

It said it’s the first “presenting partner” in the history of the action sports competition.

The games and associated musical performances will take place June 27-30 at the Ventura County Fairgrounds, including a specially designed Sonic Park, a racecourse that will host five of the competitions.

Additionally, Sonic will operate a family-friendly area called Sonic Club ’95 that will provide first tastes of new menu items. Select X Games stars will also visit the club to sample beverages and “hang out with fans” Sonic said.

It added that it will also sell unique collectibles at the games, without providing further details.

“Having been synonymous with fun for over 70 years, Sonic's partnership with X Games was a no-brainer,” Sonic chief marketing officer Ryan Dickerson said in a press release announcing the sponsorship. “As we continue to challenge our fans to break away from the norm, this collaboration offers us the perfect opportunity to engage with them and showcase the fun we're all about.”

Sonic positions itself as an experiential concept, famous for its trademark parking lot delivery service model as well as its wide variety of drinks. Young people adding pickles to soda is currently trending at the brand, a company representative said.

Related:Reba McEntire to promote date-night meal at Sonic Drive-In

Recent experience-related promotions by Sonic included musical artist Reba McEntire promoting the chain as a great spot for Valentine’s Day.

Last year the chain tapped performers JP Saxe, Kelsea Ballerini, Lainey Wilson, and Metro Boomin to promote the near infinite customizability of its drinks.

The X Games were established in 1995 and feature a variety of extreme sports competitions including skateboarding, dirt bike, and motorcycle stunts in the summer and skiing, snowboarding, and snowmobile events in the winter.

Sonic operates more than 3,500 restaurants in 47 states and has been a subsidiary of Atlanta-based Inspire Brands since late 2018.

Contact Bret Thorn at [email protected] 

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About the Author

Bret Thorn

Senior Food Editor, Nation's Restaurant News

Senior Food & Beverage Editor

Bret Thorn is senior food & beverage editor for Nation’s Restaurant News and Restaurant Hospitality for Informa’s Restaurants and Food Group, with responsibility for spotting and reporting on food and beverage trends across the country for both publications as well as guiding overall F&B coverage. 

He is the host of a podcast, In the Kitchen with Bret Thorn, which features interviews with chefs, food & beverage authorities and other experts in foodservice operations.

From 2005 to 2008 he also wrote the Kitchen Dish column for The New York Sun, covering restaurant openings and chefs’ career moves in New York City.

He joined Nation’s Restaurant News in 1999 after spending about five years in Thailand, where he wrote articles about business, banking and finance as well as restaurant reviews and food columns for Manager magazine and Asia Times newspaper. He joined Restaurant Hospitality’s staff in 2016 while retaining his position at NRN. 

A magna cum laude graduate of Tufts University in Medford, Mass., with a bachelor’s degree in history, and a member of Phi Beta Kappa, Thorn also studied traditional French cooking at Le Cordon Bleu Ecole de Cuisine in Paris. He spent his junior year of college in China, studying Chinese language, history and culture for a semester each at Nanjing University and Beijing University. While in Beijing, he also worked for ABC News during the protests and ultimate crackdown in and around Tiananmen Square in 1989.

Thorn’s monthly column in Nation’s Restaurant News won the 2006 Jesse H. Neal National Business Journalism Award for best staff-written editorial or opinion column.

He served as president of the International Foodservice Editorial Council, or IFEC, in 2005.

Thorn wrote the entry on comfort food in the Oxford Encyclopedia of Food and Drink in America, 2nd edition, published in 2012. He also wrote a history of plated desserts for the Oxford Companion to Sugar and Sweets, published in 2015.

He was inducted into the Disciples d’Escoffier in 2014.

A Colorado native originally from Denver, Thorn lives in Brooklyn, N.Y.

Bret Thorn’s areas of expertise include food and beverage trends in restaurants, French cuisine, the cuisines of Asia in general and Thailand in particular, restaurant operations and service trends. 

Bret Thorn’s Experience: 

Nation’s Restaurant News, food & beverage editor, 1999-Present
New York Sun, columnist, 2005-2008 
Asia Times, sub editor, 1995-1997
Manager magazine, senior editor and restaurant critic, 1992-1997
ABC News, runner, May-July, 1989

Education:
Tufts University, BA in history, 1990
Peking University, studied Chinese language, spring, 1989
Nanjing University, studied Chinese language and culture, fall, 1988 
Le Cordon Bleu Ecole de Cuisine, Cértificat Elémentaire, 1986

Email: [email protected]

Social Media:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bret-thorn-468b663/
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