Whataburger Inc.’s smartphone app stepped into the void during this week’s Hurricane Beryl’s aftermath, providing users with a map of power outages that the South Texas region’s electricity provider couldn’t offer.
San Antonio, Texas-based Whataburger said that on Tuesday, July 9, a day after Hurricane Beryl made landfall on the Texas Gulf Coast, that it saw a 286% increase in new app user sign-ups and 30,430 downloads.
An X, formerly Twitter, post by Bryan Norton, a podcaster who uses the X handle @BBQBryan, noted about 10 p.m. Monday: “The Whataburger app works as a power outage tracker, handy since the electric company doesn't show a map.” That post had been viewed more than 2.5 million times by Thursday.
Norton, whose podcast “Tales From the Pits” is available on iTunes and Spotify and has a website, thebbqpodcast.com, said on Wednesday: “The Whataburger post has been a wild ride — never expected it to go viral and didn't even tag Whataburger in the original tweet.”
Scott Hudler, Whataburger's chief marketing officer, added in an email: “When I saw it first pop up on @BBQBryan's X account, I had a feeling it could go viral, but we never anticipated this.
“We built our app to provide an easy way for our guests to order their favorite Whataburger item, but we’re thrilled that it has been able to provide some help to the residents of Houston that are looking to find where power is on after the storm,” Hudler said.
CenterPoint Energy, which oversees electricity distribution in the Houston area, eventually provided a stopgap map.
Hudler said, “Really, the credit goes to Bryan for discovering and alerting people about it on social media. We like to say that Whataburger is that good friend by your side, through good times and bad — and usually that is all about our warm hospitality and fresh, hot food. But this is a new twist on that.”
Hudler did credit CenterPoint employees for working diligently to restore power, with thousands still waiting for restoration on Thursday.
Hudler noted that Whataburger, as a brand, “can often be a beacon of hope or normalcy when times are tough. We don’t take that lightly. And we are working on plans to support the community through donations and food.” Waffle House, the Atlanta-based company, has been credited with returning to normal operations quickly as well.
Hudler said Whataburger was working the Red Cross and the Houston Food Bank with water donations and food trucks.
“This brand was founded in Corpus Christi, Texas, 74 years ago, and we call San Antonio home today,” Hudler said. “Texas is a very special market to us. And when there is a natural disaster in Texas, we want to make sure that we step up to help out.”
In 2019, then-family-owned Whataburger sold a majority interest to Chicago-based BDT Capital Partners. It has more than 1,000 restaurants in 15 states.
Hudler said the company immediately “made sure our restaurants had the supplies they needed to feed people” when the hurricane made landfall in South Texas.
“We know people depend on us for a hot meal, perhaps even especially during tough times because they know they can count on us,” he said. “We stayed focused on our family members and the Houston community and how we could help.”
The popularity of the Whataburger’s app as an alternate power outage tracker hasn’t changed the company’s mission, Hudler said.
“Our mission is ‘Delivering Goodness 24/7,’” he said, “and that’s what we will remain focused on moving forward. We are focused on delivering a great guest experience with hospitality and great-tasting food and the safety of our family members.
“For Houston specifically, we are focused on getting all of our restaurants opened back up and partnering with the local Red Cross and Houston Food Bank on ways in which we can support the Houston market,” he said.
“We also have many news app users in the Houston market,” Hudler noted, “and we will be working to make sure they stick around by sharing some of the tremendous value offers that are available exclusively to our rewards members.”
Contact Ron Ruggless at [email protected]
Follow him on X/Twitter: @RonRuggless