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.


More Resources

Advertising In The Local Press
There are three main reasons why I would hesitate when deciding to advertise in the local press:? Everyone else is doing it? Nobody buys a paper for the adverts?
Creativity and Getting Outside of the Box
Sitting in front of a blank piece of paper? Wondering where in the world to start? I have a suggestion. Turn the page upside down.
Top Jingle Companies: What to Look For, What to Expect
The internet offers you the opportunity to seek out jingle companies and listen to their jingle samples online. Your success depends upon a thorough evaluation of as many companies as possible.
How To Use Pictures To Immediately Start Increasing The Response Rates Of Your Marketing
There should only be one, over-riding reason why you're doing anything in your marketing.Know what that reason is?Of course! To increase the response rates of your sales promotions!Because that leads to.
Advertising Basics for Beginners
So many of us who have decided to do business online have no background in marketing or advertising. It can be so frustrating without any kind of guide.
Printing - How Do I Buy It?
Why should I care where I get my printed material from, I'll just go for tenders and go with the low bidder. If you do this probably you won't be in business for long or you'll never really run a successful business.
B2B Marketing Health and Elder Care Services
Quality Care Options is an established company advocating for the right of all seniors to receive excellent service and product. The organization recommends Certified Senior Approved Services to its elderly clientele.
Consider These Pressing Facts Before You Renew Your Yellow Page Ad
Your Yellow Page Ad Deserves More than 10 Minutes of Thought a YearBefore long, your Yellow Page directory rep will be paying you a visit. It's an annual event that happens several months before next year's directory goes to press.
Top 9 Reasons To Advertise
Advertising is not for every company. But some require it because their market is big and constantly changing and evolving.
6 Ways To Get More Sales From Your Advertisement
To bring great sales success, a great advertising technique is not the only parameter. You must know what it is that your customers are actually buying.
Advertise Where Its Forbidden To
The most common way to drive people to your business site is advertising. You cannot succeed without advertising, this is a fact.
How To Make Your Resource Box Sell
Ezine Articles - they're everywhere!And little wonder. They're one of the fastestways of building traffic to your website.
Create Your Own Business Cards, Part 2
This is the second part of creating your own business card. If you missed the first one, let me know: mailto:webmistress@janes-place.
Electronic Display Boards
Electronic display boards signify high priority messaging, allowing you to communicate critical, and time-sensitive information.Electronic display boards are present at many fast food restaurants today, aiding, and restaurants to increase sales, publicity and improve their service to you.
Small Business Image
The single easiest way to increase sales is to look professional. People believe what they see.
Media Savvy - Media Skills For Rural Women
The ability to lead, persuade and influence are integral skills for effective leaders. The capability of telling a story that inspires, motivates and informs is an essential part of this process.
What Makes A Winning Online Ad?
Most people who have been involved with sales & marketing for any length of time have heard the axiom, "Sell them what they want. Then sell them what they need".
Five Characteristics of Highly Successful Advertising
Have you ever spent a small fortune on advertising that generated disappointment rather than sales?Many small business owners have been down the road of flat advertising results and are at a loss when it comes to developing new ideas to improve the response to their ads.Whether you run ads in your local newspaper, your industry's top periodical or on-line, you need your investment in advertising to pay for itself, and then some, in order to justify its cost.
The Motivational Triggers That Make People Buy
In order to sell more products and service, you need master customers' mind. Put youself into customers' shoes and think what customers want.
Advertising Headlines and How to Write Them
1. Attract prospects with your headlineUse your headline as a flag to attract readers who are interested in your product.

More Advertising Information:

Related Articles

Ten Ways To Sell Advertising Space Fast
1. Give your customers a discount when they spendover a certain dollar amount for ad space.
Power Headlines for Promotion Success
Do you send email to your Online audience to let them know about an upcoming teleclass, your service or your book? Do you have a seminar "flyer" on your web site? The biggest mistake professionals and entrepreneurs make is to announce, rather than promote themselves. Each piece you send or put on your web site should begin with the #1 copywriting winner--the headline.
Dont Be a Secret Agent
This tactic of the game was hard for me to master and at first I failed many times. I carried my business cards only in my briefcase, because I thought they were only used in business.
The Ultimate, "Must-Have" Home-Based Business for YOU
The Ultimate, "Must-Have" Home-Based Business for YOU aUnderemployed, Unemployed, or Industrial Age IndividualAllow me to educate you on the issue of job security andpaint you a picture of what the aftermath can be if youremain comfortable at your regular job. Job security is anold-fashioned term that claims the longer an employeeworked for a particular company, the more precious thatperson became.
Double the Effectiveness of Your Company Brochure
Let's face it - most brochures go straight into the bin. But if you know the big mistake to avoid, as well as the secret to make people keep your brochure - and read it, over and over again - you're laughing.
How To Write More Powerful Brochures, Leaflets, And Catalogues
Probably the most interesting thing about brochures and leaflets is that they're seldom read in what we've come to know as the right order - as you would read a book. Rather in the same way that many people read magazines in dentists' waiting rooms, they will flick through brochures and leaflets and stop to take a longer look at bits that grab their attention.
Using The Popularity of Celebrities and Currrent Events to Promote Your Business
In this article, we want to explore the idea of using the popularity of celebrities and current event (news) topics to help market any internet business.The IdeaCelebrities and news events are not only popular topics, they are also popular "keywords" in the major search engines.
Advertise Where Its Forbidden To
The most common way to drive people to your business site is advertising. You cannot succeed without advertising, this is a fact.
Advertising That Annoys: The Real Story
Critics conclude that entertaining or "creative" commercials sell better than those that are bland. But liking the commercial may not really be that important in the scheme of things.
Advertising Agency In Boston: Tips and Tricks
The big news on Wall Street last year was the initial public offering of Internet search engine Google. If you were a visitor from another planet, you might be asking yourself, What big, sophisticated, high-technology company is behind the success of Google? Could it be IBM, Microsoft, Intel, Apple, Oracle, SAP, Hewlett-Packard, Cisco, Dell, Xerox, Sun Microsystems, Philips or Siemens? Of course not.
Marketing Tips - Advertising
Typical methods of advertising-newspapers, radio and television are effective if used properly, but there are other, less expensive ways to get your company's name out. Local or cable television is an inexpensive alternative to the traditional forms of advertising.
Create Your Own Business Cards, Part 2
This is the second part of creating your own business card. If you missed the first one, let me know: mailto:webmistress@janes-place.
Avoid Being Vague
We are bombarded with thousands of marketing messages daily?on television and the radio, on the internet, in magazines and newspapers, on billboards and other signs, and even at the bottoms and on the backs of receipts. The world is, indeed, a very noisy place.
Advertising Basics for Beginners
So many of us who have decided to do business online have no background in marketing or advertising. It can be so frustrating without any kind of guide.
16 Ways to Make Your Business Cards Unforgettable
Every time you hear someone say "May I have one of your business cards?" you should get excited. I know I do.
Customer-Involving Signage and Selling
Here's some easy ways to create signage that will attract, not annoy customers (and local government agencies that regulate signage):1. Since movement always attracts attention, any banner, sign set of a pole that might move with the wind or electrically-turned sign will stand out from the static messages around it.
Take Your Radio Ads to the Next Level
Most small businesses do not have a high poweredadvertising agency to produce award-winning radiocommercials for them. Most award-winning radiocommercials win for the wrong reasons anyway.
Small Business Image
The single easiest way to increase sales is to look professional. People believe what they see.
Improve Your Promotional Flyers And Improve Sales
Admittedly, I have not seen your advertising flyer. Then again, I probably don't have to.
Why Radio Advertising Could Be The Best Thing You Ever Did For Your Business
In the marketing world, radio has earned the reputation of being the odd step-cousin. You know the one.