Several cafes in Michigan adopted a “Luke’s Diner” theme from the popular drama series “Gilmore Girls” on Wednesday, Oct. 5. The show, which ran from 2000 until 2007, will be rebooted on Netflix this November in a four-episode mini-series called “Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life.”
Netflix arranged for participating stores to take up the theme for a day of advertisements for the show’s reboot and a celebration of the series’ debut on Oct. 5, 2000.
Cafes in Detroit, East Lansing and other locations around Michigan participated in the promotion. Stores opened at 7 a.m. and offered free coffee from 7 a.m. until noon.
Cafes that adopted the theme for the day were not required to incorporate any other details. However, some shops opted to go one step further simply due to fandom.
Amanda Brewington, the owner of Always Brewing Detroit, said in an interview before the event she and her staff will be sporting the same style worn by the show’s character Luke Danes, whose diner is the model for the promotion.
“Personally, I am just a big ‘Gilmore Girls’ fan. I’ve watched the show a couple of times through,” she said. “We are all wearing flannels, backwards hats and aprons.”
Meghan Wheeler, the co-owner of a Biggby Coffee location in Williamston, Mich., said she was a fan of the show and her store planned to reflect that on Wednesday. A Facebook post by the Williamston cafe advertising the promotion garnered 93 interactions and 28 shares, over triple what the page’s usual posts receive.
“Our Facebook post has blown up way more than I expected and I have had non-stop calls today about it,” Wheeler said. “A local news station will be broadcasting about it and the local newspaper has written an article about it.”
Netflix has provided participating businesses with 250 “Gilmore Girls”-themed cups and other promotional materials. Cafes will be selling their own coffee, and Netflix will provide compensation for the coffee they serve during the promotional period.
Information senior ania Abdulhamid said she thinks the promotion is really attractive to long-time fans of the show.
“I’ve seen every episode of ‘Gilmore Girls’ three times through, and what fan wouldn’t want to spend a day in Stars Hollow at Luke’s Diner?” she said.