On Wednesday, my colleague Jonathan Maze detailed how Wendy’s is capitalizing on McDonald’s history of malfunctioning ice cream machines to tout its own offer of $1 Frosty desserts (billed by Wendy’s as being both “delicious” and “reliable.”)
And now we’re back today with some more semi-good-natured ribbing between two fast-food burger chains.
This time, the aggressor is Yum Brands’ Habit Burger & Grill, facing off against In-N-Out in the battle for burger superiority.
Irvine, California-based Habit (known until recently as “The Habit Burger Grill”) was voted America’s favorite burger in a USA Today poll over the summer.
Habit’s Double Charburger came in one notch ahead of In-N-Out’s Double-Double. And that’s a fact Habit would very much like you to know, especially if you live in the chains’ home state of California.
So, Habit placed billboards across the Golden State. Not to promote itself. No, no. Habit is using those billboards to tout In-N-Out as America’s second-favorite burger destination.
It’s a level of petty we, frankly, love to see.
“There’s even a billboard at the In-N-Out by the Los Angeles Airport (LAX), where customers waiting in the drive-thru for their beloved Double-Doubles find themselves face-to-face with Habit’s saucy billboard,” a Habit spokesperson told us via email.
Habit Burger also made a star turn Wednesday night on “Jimmy Kimmel Live” in a sponsored bit featuring the late-night show’s sidekick Guillermo Rodriguez.
And, earlier this month, Habit launched its Double Charburger nearly 20 miles into the “edge of space” to further make the point that it’s an “out-of-this-world” burger.
In case those efforts have seemed too meek, the brand also took out full-page newspaper ads further “congratulating” In-N-Out on its second-place ranking.
Habit Burger's newspaper ad | Photo courtesy: Habit Burger & Grill.
It’s hard to fault Habit for wringing out the most positive publicity it can over a single newspaper poll. The brand has struggled with sales declines in recent quarters and rarely generates the buzz of In-N-Out’s not-so-secret menu.
But there are potential pitfalls to being so boastful.
The chain’s Facebook post Wednesday, showing its newspaper ad and billboard, has generated more than 300 comments. But a quick scan shows only about half of those in support of Habit, with the others singing the praises of In-N-Out.
And the burger wars wage on.
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