Five Guys CEO rewards workers with $1.5M after anniversary deal chaos: 'We really screwed it up'

Five Guys is rewarding employees after an unexpectedly overwhelming promotion put heavy pressure on store crews.

The burger chain said it was distributing about $1.5 million in bonuses to workers following a buy-one-get-one (BOGO) deal on Feb. 17, which was launched to celebrate its 40th anniversary but quickly exceeded expectations.

"The promotion spread far beyond what we anticipated, and our hardworking crews were placed in a difficult situation," Five Guys said in a Feb. 18 statement.