August 7, 2015
Arby’s is really going to miss Jon Stewart
For years Arby’s has served as a comedic tool for Jon Stewart on Comedy Central’s Daily Show. Now that Mr. Stewart has recorded his very last show, the fast food chain will no longer have him to kick it around anymore. But give Arby’s credit — the company made the most of Mr. Stewart’s exit.
Earlier this week, Arby’s ran a commercial during the show’s broadcast with footage of Mr. Stewart making fun of the chain with lines such as, "Arby’s: It’s like shock and awe for your bowels."
The musical backdrop for the Arby’s spot included a version of "Thank You For Being a Friend," made famous by Andrew Gold in the seventies. The spot ended with a message to Mr. Stewart: "Not sure why, but we’ll miss you." An online version of the video on YouTube had over 940,000 views as of this morning.
In a surprise appearance on the last show, Paul Brown, Arby’s CEO, introduced himself to the audience and said, "Brought to you tonight by Jon Stewart: It’s like your TV threw up on your face."
![[Image: Arby's to Jon Stewart]](/public/images/discussions/18461/arbys-jon-stewart-still.jpg)
- Arby’s to Jon Stewart: Thank You for Being a Friend – Comedy Central/YouTube
- Arby’s Thanks Jon Stewart For All the Beef in This Perfect Farewell Supercut – Adweek
- ‘The Daily Show’: Jon Stewart Haters John McCain, Chris Christie, Arby’s CEO Say Goodbye – Deadline
- Arby’s will miss Jon Stewart most of all – A.V. Club
Discussion Questions
Did years of Jon Stewart making fun of Arby’s help or hurt the chain’s business? What do you think of how Arby’s handled Mr. Stewart’s exit from the show?
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The exposure Jon Stewart gave Arby’s was priceless, and because he teased the chain so often, what first may have been taken as criticism became a running gag. I love the spot that Arby’s put together. Too few brands have a sense of humor. That spot, plus the appearance by the CEO, set Arby’s apart from its competitors — in a good way.
Oh, I thought it was perfect. Rather than getting all offended they joined in the fun, and did it perfectly. And they stayed on message, too. Some of the sandwich images they showed in their ads actually looked good, so it wasn’t just poking fun — it was delivering a message, showing they can take a joke and making a case to the audience that they’ve actually got something worth looking into. A perfect trifecta. Kudos to them for taking a risk and doing it so, so well.
The old saying, “any publicity is good publicity” applies here, I think, but best was Arby’s final response.
The commercial was epic, and on last night’s final show after a series of roasting Stewart clips, Arby’s CEO came on and made a similar tone joke about Jon Stewart. It was even better. Arby’s CEO did not look at all like I expected and he positioned himself very well.
I don’t eat meat, but if I did I might try Arby’s out.
And now I’m going back to continue the mourning process. I am so gonna miss that guy!
This will be a case study for future marketing students. It showed a company can take a few (hundred?) punches and still have fun. It isn’t rocket science and is almost formulaic. There is bad press out there — even if it’s from a fake news program. The company can curl back into its shell, go on the offensive or, as Arby’s did, roll with it.
On a personal note — the campaign didn’t convince me to eat at Arby’s, but I doubt I’m their target audience anyway.
I’m not sure what the real answer to this question is other than to say that — if anything — it probably helped brand recognition a bit to be associated with a winning franchise.
As to the exit segment, it didn’t do anything for me, but then again I’m neither one of their customers nor a regular Jon Stewart watcher so, to be honest, the whole thing was lost on me.
Sometimes a dose of reality will help a company wake up. The Simpsons have poked fun at Arby’s as well. A cartoon is not real but the words are. Nice to see Arby’s being a good sport. I recently took a woman from Brazil to Arby’s for the first time. She had never been in one before. She had never had horseradish sauce before. You would think I had taken her to Maxims de Paris. They do make a good roast beef sandwich and that’s where it ends.
Being the butt of a joke can be a company killer. When Tom Cruise told Dustin Hoffman in Rainman that Kmart sucks, the company immediately tanked. If TV characters are getting a good laugh from making fun of your product it’s not a joke, you have a big problem.
I’m going to lunch at Arby’s today. They make me feel like it is going to be fun.
Good for Arby’s. They took the abuse with a smile. I am not sure if it helped or hurt their business because there is not an Arby’s near me to know. I will add this: No Letterman, no Jon Stewart equates to no late night. As much as I miss them, I can use the sleep.
What can I say? Arby’s did all the right things and won big time in my book!
I happen to love Arby’s myself! Kudos to them!
And that’s my 2 cents.
It sounds like Arby’s made the best of the situation; whether that means they made a good situation better or a bad situation a little less so I can’t really say, since I’m not familiar with the ongoing relationship between Mr. Stewart and the company. But as David noted, there is a thin line between laughing with and laughing at.
Overall, probably solid for Arby’s, except…he made fun of Arby’s for solid product reasons to make fun of Arby’s.
This is really a long-term question, then. In the long run, will his pointing out the food problems at Arby’s outweigh the near term awareness/reminder value of his calling them out so often and their classy endorsement of him at the end of his run?
Perhaps the biggest lesson here is that Arby’s needs to get major advertising back on TV. They were entirely lost in the wilderness until Stewart made fun of them so often.
Absolutely fantastic. I don’t know if Stewart has been hurting the chain in the past, but the marketing team at Arby’s has done a great job with the exit. I really want a sandwich from Arby’s now just to see what the fuss is all about.
In today’s social media driven world, companies that can respond with a sense of humor helps win mind and stomach, especially in this case where it is a comedic context. Glad Arby’s kept its composure and leveraged it. It also helps that Arby’s does have good products that stand on their own.