BIGGBY Coffee Teams With Sheep Detectives Movie for Family Promotion

BIGGBY Coffee is trying to turn a regular drink run into a family outing, and it picked a movie tie-in to do it. The 460-plus-unit franchise announced its first-ever collaboration with a film on May 1, linking seasonal promotion with Amazon MGM Studios’ The Sheep Detectives and rolling out limited-time drinks built to feel more like a playful in-store event than a standard menu add-on.

The campaign arrives just as the movie heads toward theaters on May 8. Amazon’s film page centers the story on George, a shepherd played by Hugh Jackman, who reads detective novels to his sheep every night before a mysterious incident pushes the flock into sleuth mode. That offbeat premise gives BIGGBY a ready-made theme for drinks and store activity, including Detective Lily Lemonade, Fainting Sheep Latte and Woolly White Magic Milk.

For BIGGBY, the timing fits a brand that already leans into novelty. The company says it is headquartered in East Lansing, Michigan, was founded in 1995 and remains 100% franchise-owned, with more than 460 locations across 13 states. Its existing kids menu already includes Chocolate Magic Milk, Strawberry Magic Milk and Hot Chocolate, so the movie promotion builds on a family-friendly lane the chain has already staked out rather than inventing one from scratch.

Rita Bettino, BIGGBY’s chief marketing officer, said the partnership reflects the company’s goal of making someone’s day brighter and creating small, happy moments for families. That matters for a chain with enough footprint to shape daily habits beyond one neighborhood, because the real prize is not just moving a few themed drinks. It is making the store feel like a stop where parents and kids can linger, not just grab and go.

BIGGBY also used the announcement to preview a refreshed Kids Menu coming later this summer, which suggests the movie tie-in is part of a broader push to deepen its appeal with families. The company’s menu already stretches well past coffee, with lattes, energy drinks and featured items alongside scratch-made drinks. By wrapping a coffee launch around a movie about sheep turned detectives, BIGGBY is betting that the path to more traffic runs through experience, not just espresso.