It started with a Facebook message. “My son is autistic and obsessed with Dinty Moore® beef stew. It’s the only thing he will eat besides oatmeal.” This is the first line in the message Christine Brown, a consumer engagement specialist at Hormel Foods, received on the Dinty Moore® brand Facebook page on February 2nd. She was immediately moved by the message. Matt Mills, the man who sent it, continued: “I was wondering if you have any care packages or anything like that for such a big fan? He is non-verbal, and ‘Dinty Moore’ were some of his first words. He is seven, and he eats it so much that we call him Danny Moore. Thanks for your time.” Christine knew she had to find a way to give back to “Danny Moore,” whose real name is Danny Young.
Danny is one of five children in a blended family. Their home in the upper peninsula of Michigan is a household of nine: Danny, his mother Jamey, his four siblings, Matt, and both of Matt’s parents. During their chat, Matt told Christine, “I know I will be the one to take care of my parents, so we bought a house big enough for all of us.” A few years ago, Matt and Jamey noticed that Danny, who they already realized was non-verbal, liked to do things in a certain order. They speculated that Danny might have some form of autism, and shortly thereafter, doctors confirmed it.
When Matt reached out to the Dinty Moore® brand, he wasn’t expecting a response; he just wanted to let the company know how much of an impact the product has made on Danny’s life, especially since Danny’s love of stew was pretty unexpected. One night, Danny’s grandfather made stew and Danny seemed to like it. Knowing they couldn’t make stew every day, his grandfather reached for a brand that has been familiar to the Young/Mills family for decades.
“We grew up eating Dinty Moore® beef stew and loved it,” Matt says. “So his papa bought some Dinty Moore® beef stew and the rest is history.” Now, years later, Danny eats it five times a day, and six times if he wants it for breakfast. “It was great knowing there was something so ready-to-eat that Danny loves so much.”
The conversation with Matt got the whole Hormel Foods corporate office talking too. Christine says, “When I shared the story with the team here, they were like, ‘Okay, we need to know more about this.’” She quickly handed the story over to Aly Sill, the Dinty Moore® beef stew brand manager, who Christine says was even more excited to learn about Danny and his love of the brand. She was ready to go above and beyond.
“It’s a very vulnerable thing for a dad to reach out and share this about his son and his life, just to say thank you,” Aly said. “It just gave me goosebumps.” Christine told Matt she’d reached out to the brand manager, who would like to send “a little something” to Danny. This little something quickly became a big something. Danny would be the next Inspired Fan, a rare honor Hormel Foods bestows on its biggest fans, including telling their story on HormelFoods.com. Everyone in the office was thrilled to help out. In fact, Aly says the Hormel Foods brand design team jumped right on it and engaged their third-party agency Smith Design and label printer Smyth to help out. “Smith and Smyth did it all pro bono, and turned it around immediately.” Danny would be receiving a custom-made, surprise shipment from the Dinty Moore® brand (for details, see below).
Danny’s Big Surprise
On June 27 the Dinty Moore® brand delivered Danny’s care package, and it was a whopper. Included were:
- Dinty Moore® branded shirts – Danny got custom-printed “Danny” on the back of his shirt
- Dinty Moore® branded stocking hats, blanket and toy truck
- “Danny Moore” customized beef stew can in a trophy case
- the first shipment of a one-year’s supply of Dinty Moore® stew
And big fans they are. Matt says Dinty Moore® beef stew has made Danny’s life so much easier, and if he were in a room with everyone who took part in this interaction and surprise (which the family has yet to receive), he’d probably tear up. “It would be a lot of hugs and thank-yous,” he says. “I’m sure Danny would also thank you guys. He probably got sick of all the random things we were trying to get him to eat. Now he has his stew, and nothing else matters.”
