Anatomy of an Ad: Arby’s “Birthday”
Posted by: admin in marketing, media, tags: Arby's, burger, identity, roast beef, sexSex is not the first thing I’ve thought of, when it comes to fast food – particularly not in relationship to Arby’s. The roast beef vendor is to fast food what the guy is at your 20th high school reunion, who’s name you can’t remember – he didn’t letter in anything, had no real accomplishments, but somehow, seems somewhat familiar, even 20 years later. You just don’t remember why.
Arby’s has an identity problem, in marketingspeak. (You’d think that being the last franchise standing that features “roast beef sandwiches” – as opposed to burgers or fried chicken – would be enough to stand out. Apparently not.) So, of course, their answer is to take the low road and use sex to sell sandwiches.
Now I’m no prude. I think the spot is actually pretty funny. The idea of a guy who loves Arby’s so much he has his wife agree to dress up like a fast food waitress is cute. Less cute is the animation of the Arby’s bug, which will forever and always make me equate their logo with a phallic symbol. (Say Bob…what do you want for lunch? I’m thinkin’ Ar…no, on second thought, forget it. I’m really not into that homoerotic symbolism thing…) Is that a ten gallon hat, or are you just Jonesing for some roast beast? I could go on, but you get the point. No pun intended.
The problem here is that, while the spot is funny, it puts the attention on sex, instead of on Arby’s. And that’s not going to be a long-term success for a company with a serious identity crisis going on. It also makes the brand fair game for every late-night comic (not to mention some of the folks that hang out on YouTube with waaaaaay too much time on their hands.
No, I think Arby’s could do a lot better than selling beef with sex. They make a good sandwich. I just wish they could find a way to make that fact a compelling story, so nobody would be forced to ask “where’s the (roast) beef”?
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