When Life Gives You Lemons, Use ’Em to Chase a Shot
When Life Gives You Lemons, Use ’Em to Chase a Shot
How a $300 Burglary Turned Into Free Publicity
Early Wednesday morning, Little Joe’s Bar on Taylor Street was broken into.
The burglars made off with a little over $300 in cash.
The problem?
They caused nearly $5,000 in damage getting it.
For most small businesses, that’s the kind of morning that makes you want to throw your hands up. Broken windows. Insurance claims. Police reports. Cleanup. Lost time.
But if you’ve followed F’nAround over the past year, you already know we have a habit of taking lemons and trying to make lemonade.
So after talking with my brother, who owns Little Joe’s, we decided there was only one thing left to do.
Have some fun with it.
Instead of writing an angry Facebook post, he wrote what might be the world’s worst customer review.
⭐☆☆☆☆ (0/5 Stars)
Pros: They showed up early.
Cons: Didn’t wait for us to open. Broke our windows. Stole the cash register. Left the beer tap running. Would not recommend.
It was exactly the kind of humor Chicago appreciates.
Then we took it a step further.
Using the security footage from the break-in, I edited the video to match the fake review, added music, leaned into the joke, and turned an awful morning into something people actually wanted to watch.
Instead of people sharing another crime story…
…they shared the laugh.
Before long, local news stations picked it up.
The story spread organically.
Little Joe’s ended up on television, my brother gave interviews, and thousands of people who may have never heard of the neighborhood bar suddenly knew exactly where it was.
No advertising budget.
No marketing agency.
Just a willingness to laugh at something that honestly wasn’t funny.
Crisis Can Be Marketing
None of this changes the reality.
Someone still broke into a family business.
Windows still have to be replaced.
Insurance still has to be dealt with.
But once the damage is done, you have a choice.
You can let the story be about what happened to you…
…or you can tell the story yourself.
People remember authenticity.
They remember humor.
They remember businesses that don’t lose their personality when things go wrong.
Spilled Beer Isn’t Worth Crying Over
There’s an old saying about crying over spilled milk.
Around Little Joe’s, we’d argue spilled beer isn’t worth crying over either.
Sometimes the best revenge isn’t getting angry.
It’s refusing to let someone steal your spirit along with your cash register.
The burglars got about $300.
Little Joe’s got a viral post, television coverage, and a reminder from the community that people show up when local businesses need them most.
That’s not a bad trade.
Every business eventually faces a crisis.
The difference is whether the crisis becomes your identity… or your marketing.
Sometimes making lemonade out of lemons is the best business decision you can make. But sometimes using those lemons to chase a shot… is just as fun.
Little Joe’s
1041 west Taylor street
Chicago, Il 60607
Little Joe's | Bar | 1041 West Taylor Street, Chicago, IL, USA
Funny Video of the break in: https://www.instagram.com/reel/DbY8cK5PPQl/?igsh=MWRibHp2N3piMzdneQ==
CBS article:
CBS interview:
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DbfzY2qRlA-/?igsh=djIxaXJ3NHB3cHcx
