Slutty Vegan founder, Aisha “Pinky” Cole, is reportedly moving her business to the metaverse.
According to the Atlanta Business Journal, Cole has already filed the necessary trademark documents to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in order to join the metaverse, a virtual-reality setting that also incorporates physical aspects of the real world.
The trademark includes things such as offering virtual food and drinks, online ordering, loyalty programs and other online rewards.
Since beginning her company in 2018, Cole has expanded her company from being a food truck business in Atlanta to being a restaurant with chains in multiple states. Just last month, on Sep. 17, Slutty Vegan debuted their first New York restaurant in Brooklyn’s Fort Greene neighborhood, marking the opening of their seventh overall restaurant.
Throughout her career, Cole has partnered with multiple companies. In August, Slutty Vegan and Steve Madden came together to create a new vegan sneaker, and, in September, the vegan-burger company worked alongside TLB to make a vegan lip line.
With all her success, Cole has also been dedicated to giving back. Working alongside the Georgia Department of Juvenile Justice, she gave scholarships to 30 juvenile offenders as part of the DJJ’s F.R.E.S.H. Start Youth Initiative. With the scholarship, the applicants were given the chance to gain experience at Slutty Vegan under paid employment and were given an advance of $10,000 for money towards college or a technical school.
“Being able to partner with the Georgia Department of Juvenile Justice to help kids in our community is what we are about at Slutty Vegan and the Pinky Cole Foundation,” said Cole in a statement.
With their latest venture now, Cole and Slutty Vegan join other companies, like Panera, Next Level Burger, Chipotle, McDonald’s, Chick-fil-A, Panda Express and Wingstop amongst others, in moving their business to the metaverse.
Earlier this year, on April 2, Wendy’s also made its first move into the virtual world with its “Wendyverse” partnership. Through a collaboration with Meta’s Horizon Worlds, the fast-food chain offered their customers the chance to enter the virtual reality world and visit some of Wendy’s most popular establishments.
Through a VR headset, they could go to the Wendyverse Town Square Central for things like virtual fries. They could also go to the Wendyverse Partnership Plaza where they were given the chance to play basketball and earn perks for the real world.
“For years we’ve been meeting our fans in unexpected ways and places with our unique approach to social media, gaming and engagement,” said the chief marketing officer of Wendy’s, Carl Loredo,in a statement released before the company began offering the Wendyverse. “Truly a first of its kind, the Wendyverse bridges the best of today with tomorrow to show up for our fans across every world – with a Frosty and fries in hand.”
