Arby's new $10 Meat Mountain sandwich is a case of life imitating marketing, specifically the chain's effort to promote sandwiches other than its traditional roast beef.
Christopher Fuller, Arby's vice president of brand and corporate communication, told
the Washington Post that the company produced a poster for its restaurants showing all the other meats its sandwiches can be made of.
A challenge came when customers started asking for the over-the-top, meat-laden sandwich in the poster, which the restaurant didn't make, Fuller said. That problem was solved with the Meat Mountain.
Urgent: Do You Approve Or Disapprove of President Obama's Job Performance? Vote Now in Urgent Poll
"To that end, the chain asked managers to put up posters displaying its meats stacked helpfully like geological rock layers,"
wrote Clint Rainey of GrubStreet.com. "However, in a world desensitized to kitchen-sink-food atrocities, customers just interpreted the posters as a menu suggestion."
According to the Post, for their $10 customers will get under one bun, two chicken tenders, 1.5 ounces of roast turkey, 1.5 ounces of ham, one slice of Swiss cheese, 1.5 oz. of corned beef, 1.5 ounces of brisket, 1.5 ounces of Angus steak, one slice of cheddar cheese, 1.5 ounces of roast beef and three half-strips of bacon.
In a callout for Meat Mountain test-tasters,
Consumerist.com found a brave soul in San Antonio who took a photo of the monster sandwich and gave his critique.
"The trickiest part was trying to keep the chicken fingers on there while eating it," wrote "Joe from San Antonio," according to Consumerist.com "That being said, it could be done if you just compressed it a little bit. With the amount of meat you're getting, it seemed easily worth the $10."
The Consumerist reviewer said while he would order the Meat Mountain again, he admitted it gave him "a bit of a headache" eating it in one sitting.
"I've gotta say that while it is indeed, a large pile of meat, it also appears a bit sad and haphazard, like it knows it's supposed to be this big mountain and everything? But it just feels exhausted trying to hold up all that meat," wrote Mary Beth Quirk, of Consumerist.com.
Urgent: Assess Your Heart Attack Risk in Minutes. Click Here.
Related Stories: