Have Hardee's and Carl's Jr. Gone Too Far (Or Big)?
As most people know, we love fat in just about all its forms here at Serious Eats. We love bacon, barbecue, butter, lardo, guanciale, prime dry-aged beef, Wagyu beef, burgers, lard, prosciutto, cheese, and pastrami. But we try to advocate consuming these ultradelicious fatty foods in moderation.
According to a provocative, eye-opening, and artery-clogging story in the new, hip business culture magazine Portfolio, the folks at Carl's Jr. and Hardee's don't feel a similar need. If they had their way, we'd consume half-pound hamburgers topped with, among other things, a hot dog, early and often.
Consider the opening paragraph of the story:
It was a patriotic statement that went a bit too far afield: an attempt to create the "ultimate picnic burger." Called the Fourth of July Burger, it was tested last summer at seven locations by the West Coast fast-food chain Carl's Jr. and consisted of a huge beef patty topped with pickles, ketchup, mustard, potato chips, and a hot dog. Stacked high and loaded with fat and calories, it was the food equivalent of the national anthem played through a sousaphone, a perfect distillation of a peculiarly American form of balls-out, postmodern gluttony that, at least outwardly, we're all supposed to be ashamed of right now.
Though the Fourth of July Burger didn't fly, the Carl's Jr. Double Six Dollar Burger, 1,520 calories of beefy fat and meat, is a runaway (or perhaps a waddleaway) success. So is the 1,410-calorie Hardee's Monster Thickburger (pictured).
Have Carl's Jr. and Hardee's gone too far? Perhaps. According to the Portfolio story, the Double Six Dollar Burger has been pulled from all of the company's California locations because of a lawsuit alleging that it contains unacceptable amounts of a carcinogen commonly created by grilling meat. Carl's Jr. apparently intends to pull the Double Six in the rest of the country as well. Well, maybe they'll bring back the Fourth of July Burger with another name.
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18 Comments:
I think it's pretty irresponsible for the people in exec positions to allow such burgers on a fast food chain's menu. I mean it's no secret that a nice sloppy burger at a sit down restaurant will run you 1000 calories (give or take) but to promote such a clearly unhealthy burger to a fast food chain is bordering manslaughter in my books. If people can sue McD's for making them fat, then people should be all over Carl's Jr.'s. The way I see it, the customer is still the one in charge of what they eat and their own health, however, it's not to say that the accountability of the exec's at fast food chains should be diminished because of that. There needs to be a middle ground reached before the game gets too lop-sided; fast food is going to get out of hand or people are going to wise up and cities will have to put a moratorium on the construction of new "restaurants" serving fast food like they have in some areas.
kitchenlove at 9:38AM on 01/18/08
and I'll bet it's delicious!
RichardCrystal at 9:38AM on 01/18/08
@kitchenlove, if you put that kind of so-called "accountability" on those execs, the number of frivoluous lawsuits, such as the one mentioned in the Portfolio story, will go through the roof, aimed at massive numbers of food manufacturers worldwide. Yes, as you wrote, "the customer is still the one in charge of what they eat and their own health". Frankly, there is no "however" after stating that without opening one of the biggest can of worms in history.
Yesterday's Great Canadian Food Show, which I saw at 3 p.m. on channel 9 out of Windsor, featured a guy deep-frying 25 steaks on a huge, polished pitchfork, dipped into a vat of 5 various oils. 3.5 minutes later, all 25 steaks were crispy outside, and so rare inside the guy said a Vet could probably resuscitate them. Diners at the huge party in the barn were easily cutting the steaks with plastic knives.
Yeah, that's some good eatin' there.
LunaPierCook at 9:53AM on 01/18/08
I'll have to see if I can get my hands on a Double Six Dollar Burger before it gets yanked.
Adam Kuban at 9:59AM on 01/18/08
> a huge beef patty topped with pickles, ketchup, mustard,
> potato chips, and a hot dog
Call me crazy, but that sounds incredible.
cfinke at 10:14AM on 01/18/08
They will have gone too far when people don't buy their product. If people are buying that disgusting sounding 4th of July burger, then I guess they've not gone to far. I'm really tired of this nanny state attitude that people have started developing towards fast food restaurants. If I walk into McDonald's, I am more than aware that whatever I'm eating will be loaded with calories, fat and sodium. It's not a shock. They didn't twist my arm to walk in there. They are not forcefeeding me. And to hold them accountable for that is ridiculous. It would be like an alcoholic sueing a liquor store for their addiction. People need to take responsibility for what they put into their own bodies. That said, carcinogens are different than fat, and not a given, and those burgers should have been pulled.
Should fast food restaurants offer more lite alternatives? Absolutely. They'd do much better business if they did. But that's up to them; and to the consumers who either go or not depending on their needs. Subway is doing a standup business right now (at least in my midtown office location), and seems to have more customers than the Burger King halfway down the block.
I know I'm getting all soap-boxey here but the whole issue really bugs me. I mean, has the whole concept of personal responsibilty just disappeared?
chisai at 10:16AM on 01/18/08
I think it's pretty funny we're talking about this. How long have these types of burgers been available at other mainstream "restaurants"? Like Chilis' or Benigans?
It's a gimmick people - and all this discussion is proof it is working.
~TableBread
http://tablebread.blogspot.com
TableBread at 10:17AM on 01/18/08
I'd like all of my burger consumption to be accompanied by a sousaphone.
Lauren Krueger at 10:33AM on 01/18/08
How is this all that different from eating a hamburger, hot dog, and potato chips separately--a minor feat I've accomplished at many a barbecue?
jamieforrest at 10:33AM on 01/18/08
that burger looks too amazing..
foodinmouth at 11:29AM on 01/18/08
"has the whole concept of personal responsibility just disappeared?"
Yes.
alyssazor at 11:50AM on 01/18/08
I'm all for hardees advertising a burger as a sickeningly unhealthy burger - "thickburger"? cmon, anyone with any common sense will know that something called a 'thickburger' ain't good for you.
then there's food like a chipotle burrito that flies under the radar, because it's a burrito with stuff like rice, beans, veggies. something like THAT can't be that bad for you, right?.....
when restaurants/companies start deceiving the consumer (you can't find nutritional information at a chipotle, even though it's avail in all other fast food restaurants), that's when they execs should be held responsible...
attgig at 12:31PM on 01/18/08
Why is everyone blaming the execs of the company? How about personal responsibility? It's your own fault if you get fat, because you are the one that decided to put it in your mouth.
This huge burger is a great marketing move. When Wendy's marketed the triple cheeseburger, not many people bought it, but the sales of double cheeseburgers went up. This is because consumers had more choice on how many patties go on their burger. It's brilliant!
Red_Icculus at 4:10PM on 01/18/08
well after reading pollan's omnivore's dilemma I would say that statistically speaking the people that are regularly consuming these types of foods are of a lower SES. Therefore, I believe that it is the responsibility of a higher power to at least put up some regulations because these people are eating this stuff as a regular meal replacement because they can't afford healthier foods that contain the same # of calories needed to survive. It sounds a lot like exploitation to me.
kitchenlove at 8:18PM on 01/18/08
the 4th of July burger would drive me nuts--I can't stand to have foods that aren't normally eaten together to be touching (weird, i know). Having the hamburger, hot dog, and potato chips all crammed together into one bun would be a mealtime disaster for me.
beth1 at 1:38AM on 01/19/08
Hmmm, Carl's Jr. is still one of the last fast food places with a Low Carb Burger still on the menu (wrapped in lettuce, minus the bun).
While I think it's far better to find a grass fed burger than a factory-farmed fast food burger, when are people going to understand the basic biochemistry that makes a fast food meal a nutritional disaster? It is the bun, the ketchup, the fries, the fake "cheese", the soybean and HFCS sweetened mayo, and the HFCS-laced soda that are the most "artery-clogging", not the burger.
annaandguy at 3:11PM on 01/21/08
sorry but if people want it let them have it! Personally I stay away from fast food, and even when SO and I were struggling financially, there were cheaper and better options available, including ramen noodles. Yes there is still personal responsibility, although the unethical lawyers of the world shudder at the thought.
huney_bumper at 9:42AM on 01/22/08
I'd like all of my burger consumption to be accompanied by hot dogs.
worldcupfever at 3:54PM on 05/16/08