Last week, Krispy Kreme opened its first-ever “factory store” in my city.

People lined up overnight, in December.

The police had to reroute morning traffic around the congestion, while a blizzard raged.

Over doughnuts. 🍩

Doughnuts that would be available every single day from that point on.

This isn’t Krispy Kreme’s first dance in Canada. They arrived with huge fanfare in 2001, expanded rapidly, then retreated. Most locations closed by 2005. While you could still find their products in some grocery stores, that appealing “Hot Now” experience vanished.

Now they’re back. With a factory store where you can watch fresh doughnuts roll off the line.

Smarter. More strategic. And per the strategy, people are losing their minds.

The contrast is striking:

• While Ozempic and other weight loss drugs threaten snack brands
• While health consciousness is supposedly at an all-time high
• While inflation has everyone watching their spending

Here are hundreds of people waiting hours in the cold for a hot glazed doughnut.

Why? Because Krispy Kreme understands something huge about desire: Scarcity creates cravings. Distance makes the heart grow fonder. And nothing beats the memory of that first warm, fresh doughnut.

Especially after it’s been taken away.

When Coca-Cola introduced New Coke and deprived fans of the original formula, a similar thing happened. People needed their classic favourite. The became desperate for it.

In I Need That, I talk about how the dog brain loves what it can’t easily have.

Make something harder to get, and suddenly we need it more.

The “Hot Now” sign is more than a signal that doughnuts are ready. It’s a beacon that says “get it while you can.”

“Now” is a loaded word when people believe it’s serious.

Action for today: What could your product gain by being less available? Sometimes artificial scarcity isn’t artificial at all. It’s smart brand strategy.

What memories could your product be creating?

What’s your “Hot Now”?

Laurier

P.S. Those overnight line-ups are not surprising. When Krispy Kreme first came to Canada in 2001, people waited 3+ hours at every store opening. Some things never change — especially when nostalgia gets added to the sugary mix.