News Blog

News Blog

Marina Mob Makes Photo Pitch For In-N-Out

Over 250 red- and yellow-clad Marina residents congregated on the field beside The Dunes shopping center Saturday to make a case for an In-N-Out Burger in their town. Their goal: to create a larger-than-life, human replica of the iconic In-N-Out Burger logo, document their feat on film and send a photo to the fast food franchise headquarters as proof of their double-double love.

Marina Mayor Bruce Delgado, decked out in a bright yellow Marina Volunteer Firefighter Department jacket and plastic lei (the same one he sported in the Weekly's photo shoot) led the all-ages crowd in a choreographed "burger, fries and shake" dance (see video) and a lively call-and-response. "What do we want?" he shouted through a bullhorn. "IN-N-OUT!" the crowd roared.

Standing in the middle of the crowd, Delgado enthusiastically yelled directions and inspiration. "We're standing on the very dirt we'd like In-N-Out to build on!" he said, eliciting a chorus of cheers. He emphasized the location's many selling points, including its visibility from Highway 1, CSU-Monterey Bay and The Dunes shopping center, which has five big-box stores but no food outlet.

The thick cloud cover fogged up Delgado's grand plans to have local pilot Kim Cohan fly over the crowd with photographer Steve Zmak in the passenger's seat snapping aerial shots to send to In-N-Out's head honchos. Instead, Cohan and Zmak surveyed the scene from atop a cherry picker just south of the crowd.

Despite the misty morning chill, those present enjoyed themselves. "The combination of a flash mob with a campaign for In-N-Out is a really fun idea," said CSUMB student Renee Infelise. She'd be a frequent customer at Marina's outpost, should Delgado's plan pan out. "In-N-Out's really the best there is," Infelise said. "They're all about quality, and their burgers are just so good." Whether Marina's photo pitch woos the franchise back to the Peninsula after unsuccessful negotiations with Seaside remains to be seen.