A Trust Lesson from Five Guys
On the Five Guys hiring page, under Working for Five Guys, you’ll read:
“At Five Guys the philosophy is simple: great burgers and fries crafted in a clean restaurant run by friendly staff. The success of these company pillars depends on our crew members, which is why we want our employees to feel pride and ownership in this, their company. It doesn’t hurt to have some fun along the way either, right?”
Fun along the way. Keep that in mind.
On Tuesday, February 17, 2026, there was no joy in Five Guys. Before 8:00 a.m. that morning, I received a text from a foodie friend of mine:
“BOGO burgers through the Five Guys app today. Use code: 40FGBDAY.”
In celebration of their 40th birthday, Five Guys launched a generous buy-one-get-one promotion across their U.S. locations. What they didn’t anticipate was the overwhelming response. They ran out of ingredients. In some cases, guests waited nearly an hour for their orders. The staff bore the brunt of the tension, trying to get through their tickets while hungry customers, patience waning, asked what was taking so long. It was a bit of a disaster.
Soon after, Five Guys posted publicly:
“Thank you for showing up in such a big way! We vastly underestimated your response to our 40th Birthday offer. As a result, we let our customers and crews down. We are truly sorry that we didn’t meet your or our expectations. We’re replenishing fresh product to our locations now.”
They also promised another celebration to “make it right.”
As a leadership coach who regularly works with business leaders on trust behaviors, I found their response worth noting.
They didn’t deflect.
They didn’t blame supply chains.
They didn’t criticize customers for “overreacting.”
They owned it.
They acknowledged the miss, apologized clearly and specifically to those affected (customers and staff), and committed to corrective action.
That’s trust behavior.
Now, let’s be honest: the employees who worked that day probably need more than a public apology. It wasn’t the Five Guys marketing team sweating it out in that kitchen; front-line strain requires real internal follow-through, and I hope the higher-ups are working to make it right. But as a first move, I applaud the statement. This is how you begin replenishing the trust account.
Trust isn’t built by perfection, but by how one responds to challenges. Here are some insights I gained from this story:
- Trust Is Behavioral
Trust isn’t a personality trait. It’s a series of observable actions, especially when things go wrong. - Pace Matters
Silence erodes confidence. Timely acknowledgment protects credibility. - Own the Miss
Clear responsibility lowers defensiveness and restores dignity to those impacted. - Low Trust Creates a Tax
When trust drops, organizations pay in bureaucracy, redundancy, politics, and second-guessing. - High Trust Pays a Dividend
When trust is strong, collaboration accelerates, energy increases, and recovery happens faster.
Promotional events will fail.
Systems will strain.
Forecasts will miss.
The question isn’t whether mistakes happen.
The question is:
How do you respond when they do?
That’s where trust is either lost or gained.
If you’re interested in building trust in your organization, send me an email at [email protected].
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