How Humor Got Pop Culture to Start Thinking Arby's

According to an article on CNBC , myriad factors have led to a saturated foodservice franchise space, including “rising labor costs, changing millennial tastes and an oversurplus of restaurant chains.” According to the article, “it is estimated that there are 194,723 franchised quick-service restaurants in the U.S, up from 151,887 a decade ago. To stay in the game, brands are modernizing, pushing discounts, enhancing conveniences, adding healthier fare and more to get customers in the door.”

In the quagmire, Arby’s has emerged as a surprising frontrunner in recent years, “recently ranked No. 3 in the sandwich category behind Panera and Subway by QSR magazine’s list of the nation’s top quick-serve and fast-casual brands,” the article said. The roast beef franchise has flourished since CEO Paul Brown joined the brand in 2013. New LTOs like the 2013 brisket sandwich and 2014’s rollout of the playful tagline ‘We have the meats’ bolstered sales, the article said.

The biggest sales boom, however, came in 2014 when Pharell Williams wore that infamously oversized brown hat to the Grammy Awards. Arby’s playfully tweeted “@Arbys: Hey @Pharrell, can we have our hat back? #GRAMMYs” and “generated 6,000 new followers for the brand,” according to the article.

Shortly after, Arby’s became the brunt of a recurring joke on Jon Stewart’s “The Daily Show.” According to the article, Brown responded by having the brand cater the show almost every time Stewart leveled a job. The pièce de résistance?

When Stewart announced his retirement, the article said, Arby’s tweeted: “Jon, feel free to reach out to us at [email protected] .”

Katie LaTour is a staff writer for 1851 Franchise and Estatenvy. She has experience in copywriting, editing and translation, and has written content for brands including Coca-Cola, Ivivva and Ray Ban's. She holds a Master of Arts in Writing and Publishing from DePaul University and a B.A. in English and Spanish from the University of Dayton. Presently, Katie is working on a poetry collection and building a platform for Chicago creative professionals to share best practices.