The Jurassic Ad Campaign That Began as a Joke


Author: Makaylee Pettit

With Twinkies returning to the shelves and doughnut Sloppy Joes coming to existence, 2013 was looking like the perfect year for a triple bypass surgery, but it seems that all hope has been shattered. Wendy's has officially pulled the gravity-defying nine-patty cheeseburger, affectionately named the T-Rex Burger, from their menu.

The 3,360-calorie culinary masterpiece was originally a lark advertising campaign in Sports Illustrated nine years ago, but when customers actually started to order the T-Rex Burger at a Canadian Wendy's restaurant, they delivered. After a recent Reddit post about the burger went viral, the Brandon, Manitoba, Canada Wendy's decided to remove the meal permanently.

Barb Barker, the administrative office manager for the owners of the Wendy's in Brandon, told ABCnews.com that they decided to remove the advertising image of the T-Rex Burger from their store when the brand's headquarters in Ohio asked them to no longer serve it. The Canadian branch also told the Metro Canada that, "Wendy's of Brandon neither condones nor promotes the idea of anyone consuming a nine-patty hamburger in one sitting."

At $21.99, this particular Wendy's location was selling two or three of the burgers a day. Given that each of these burgers contained about 200 grams of fat and 6,000 grams of sodium, the few people that were actually ordering this non-official menu item are probably in much better physical health now that the T-Rex Burger is no longer available.

According to ABCnews.com, Wendy's does want their customers to know that they will still be selling all items currently in their advertising campaigns and they will continue to serve hamburgers the way customers like them. An extra patty is always an option.

Despite the disappearance of the T-Rex Burger, other unconventional food items are continuing to hit the market locally in Utah. Although the Dunkin' Donuts' 360-calorie bacon doughnut breakfast sandwich seems healthy in comparison to the T-Rex Burger.

Advertising agencies like to push the envelope when it comes to food ads. But unlike the T-Rex Burger advertising joke, most are legitimately trying to sell something. Agencies in Utah can follow this guideline to successfully market their clients. Head turning ads will draw more traffic to client websites. Though keep in mind that going too far with an ad will cause customers in Utah to only remember the ad, not the product or company that the ad is about.

So, the moral of this story is that Utah advertising agencies can branch out with their clients while still running an effective campaign, just make sure that the item being promoted will be actually be available.

About the Author

Brooke Gillepsie is a writer for Fusion 360, an advertising agency in Utah that provides SEO and content marketing.


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