HOW ONE COMPANY GOT THREE HOURS OF FREE TELEVISION TIME

When Ed Moore opened his Washington, D.C. restaurant, Franklyn's, in December, 1996, he decided with his staff to hold a monthly fundraiser for a community organization. The fundraiser wasn't designed to have any direct impact on Ed's bottom line. Normally, there are much easier ways to promote a big city coffee parlor than charitable works.

Ed held his first fundraiser, for a women's and children's shelter called Grandma's Place, a worthwhile cause if there ever was one. The funny thing about charities, however, is that they need to promote themselves, too. And sometimes they're at least as good at this as businesses. In this case, a Grandma's House staffer wrote to the Washington Fox station, WTTG TV, to suggest that the station do its morning weather reports from Franklyn's. (The WTTG morning show is a local powerhouse in D.C., and sometimes, outpulls Good Morning America). The station loved the idea. So less than two months after opening, Franklyn's turned into a studio for the top local show in the city. Hmm. Do you feel like doing the math on how much that TV time would have cost? A lot.

That's serendipity, even if it was disconcerting for the harried staff. Now we've got only one question left: if Franklyn's owner is named Ed, who's Franklyn?

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