Add The California Post on Google The In-N-Out obsession is not limited to regular customers.
For decades, the California-born burger chain has had a strange way of showing up in celebrity culture without feeling like a typical paid endorsement.
Britney Spears was photographed in a convertible at the drive-thru. Arnold Schwarzenegger has been seen eating there.
Helen Mirren famously ate an In-N-Out burger at the Vanity Fair Oscars party with her Oscar statue nearby.
Tiger Woods has eaten it from an In-N-Out truck at a golf tournament. Quentin Tarantino has been photographed with it, and Bernie Sanders made a campaign stop there during his 2016 presidential run.
That is a pretty unusual guest list for a burger chain: movie stars, Oscar winners, athletes, politicians, pop stars and regular Californians all tied together by the same red-and-white wrapper.
Jonathan Maze, editor-in-chief of Restaurant Business, said that kind of organic attention is a major advantage for the company.
“You’ve got all these people out there basically advertising the company for free,” Maze said, adding that In-N-Out is “a very talked about restaurant chain far beyond its size.”
But the fandom does not stop with the food. In-N-Out has also built a surprisingly deep merchandise culture, selling T-shirts, hats, socks, keychains, license plate frames, playing cards, beach towels, pet gear and shoes.
For Tyler Lupinski, who is from Cincinnati, an In-N-Out shirt works almost like proof of a California trip. He said people in Ohio ask about it because it means he has been to In-N-Out.
And for Kevin Corado, from Los Angeles, the merch is closer to memorabilia. He said he has an In-N-Out shirt hanging on his wall like art because the brand represents something distinctly California.
One of the more memorable items was the In-N-Out Drink Cup Shoe, a slip-on sneaker covered in the chain’s red palm tree cup design. Some fans call them the In-N-Out Vans because of the style, but officially, they were the company’s own drink cup shoes.
That is when a brand has crossed over. People are not only eating the burger. They are wearing the cup.
California Post News: Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, X, YouTube, WhatsApp, LinkedInCalifornia Post Sports Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, XCalifornia Post Opinion California Post Newsletters: Sign up here!California Post App: Download here!Home delivery: Sign up here!Page Six Hollywood: Sign up here!
