This summer, our neighbors across the way at Broken Bat Brewing came up with a series they straightforwardly dubbed “No-Phone Friday.” The next installment is just a few days away, and they’ve lined up a sizzling-hot partnership just in time.
For this No-Phone Friday (happening Aug. 30), Broken Bat will join forces with Johnsonville as the brewery continues its quest to have you walk through the doors and put your device aside for some honest-to-goodness human connection.
“It’s a simple exchange but a meaningful gesture,” Broken Bat founder Tim Pauly said in a release. “Whether it’s 20 minutes or the entire stay, we want to reward guests’ commitment with easy, fun ways to engage with one another. Having Johnsonville get behind this sends a powerful message that it’s OK to take a break. Enjoy each other’s company over brats and a beer!”
With their Big Taste Grill taking a break from the road, Johnsonville will bring a more space-conscious cooking mechanism in the form of its Sizzling Sausage Grill Plus, along with other prizes and giveaways.
Those sound like the “random drawing” side of things, while Broken Bat has a “you’re absolutely going to get something” menu planned — if you ditch your device. It’s actually pretty simple: hand your phone to a trusted member of their brewery staff (who will then put it in a locked box), and you get a numbered card good for a free game of darts and a free second beer.
“We’re big fans of people hanging out in real life,” Johnsonville senior director of marketing Jamie Schmelzer said in the release. “We applaud everyone involved in these events for being so intentional about making time for fun and prioritizing togetherness. We hope our tasty sausage, prizes and giveaways make something great even better.”
Speaking of even better, the partners added a give-back element to the event by encouraging donations to Mental Health America of Wisconsin. You can do that right away in advance of the No-Phone Friday event, which runs from noon to 10 p.m., with Johnsonville brats served from 4 to 7 p.m.
