T-Mobile CEO John Legere wants folks to sign up for their wireless service and for the past couple of years has made his pitch in the most unusual of places, a weekly cooking show called “Slow Cooker Sunday.”
To mark the 2nd anniversary of the show, Legere joined David Wasielewski, the managing partner of the popular Taiwanese dumpling chain Din Tai Fung, at their restaurant in Bellevue’s Lincoln Square to cook up chicken soup and dumplings.
The unconventional wireless exec spends about 10 minutes every Sunday, usually from his kitchen, where he plugs T-Mobile, shares a crock pot recipe and answers viewer questions on Facebook Live. The shows are low-tech, kitschy and irreverent, with antics like Legere spraying Pam cooking oil on the floor and doing what he calls the “Pam shuffle dance.”
The show has become immensely popular, with 2.3 million average viewers weekly and even topping 3 million views for an episode that starred actress Kate Hudson. The show has also helped Legere amass more than 5.7 million followers across Twitter, Facebook, Periscope and Instagram.
“I use tons of different ways to talk to customers, to talk to employees, get them excited about T-Mobile, but this has taken on a life of its own,” said Legere. “I’m having a great time doing it, and customers and employees love it, and a lot of non-T-mobile customers watch this and then go in the store.”
He’s also pretty certain that his competitors in the wireless industry have taken notice of the show. “Trust me. They hear about this because their people wish that they were closer to employees and customers,” said Legere. “I don’t think most CEOs today can get out of their own way. They’ve got to portray an image. I don’t think they’re doing this.”
The self-proclaimed Un-CEO also teased that he may have a cookbook coming in the future. The potential title? “The Un-Cooker.”
If you’d like to make the “home version” of Din Tai Fung’s house chicken soup from this week’s episode, here is the recipe:
Ingredients:
- 20 pcs chicken
- 5-6 green onions, sliced into 2-inch pieces
- 5 slices ginger
- 64oz Chicken Broth
- 4 tablespoons cooking wine
Directions:
- Cook on high for 6 hours in the slow cooker
