A very important post about… food porn

What you see above you is the Hardee’s Monster Thickburger. The burger contains 1,420 calories and 107 grams of fat according to MSNBC. Here’s their more complete description:

[T]wo one-third-pound slabs of Angus beef, four strips of bacon, three slices of cheese and mayonnaise on a buttered sesame seed bun. The sandwich alone sells for $5.49 or $7.09 with a medium fries (520 calories) and soda (about 400 calories). [Which adds up to a 2,340 calorie meal. If memory serves, it’s commonly assumed that the daily caloric intake of a healthy adult is around 2,000 calories–DD] McDonald’s Corp., Wendy’s International Inc. and other fast-food giants have broadened their offerings of salad and other lower-calorie fare amid concerns the industry could be held legally liable for America’s obesity epidemic. Hardee’s [also called Carl’s Jr. in some parts of the country–DD] offers no such concessions, although the chain is not completely oblivious to dietary trends, offering at least three “low-carb” items including a low-carb Thickburger. In an interview on CNBC, Hardee’s chief executive Andrew Puzder was unapologetic, saying the company’s latest sandwich is “not a burger for tree-huggers.” “This is a burger for young hungry guys who want a really big, delicious, juicy, decadent burger,” he said. “I hope our competitors keep promoting those healthy products, and we will keep promoting our big, juicy delicious burgers.”

This CBS report by Jim Axelrod has more funny quotes from Puzder:

You got all four major food groups. You got beef, pork, mayonnaise and butter. “You got everything … yeah,” said Hardee’s CEO Andy Puzder…. On one hand, it’s inspiring late-night ridicule as a heart attack on a bun, as talk show hosts such as David Letterman jest. One showed a picture of faux doctors performing defibrillation on an imitation Hardees owner. “They actually had somebody play me on a TV show, and I had a heart attack,” Pudzer said. “I even thought that was good. My ex-wife wanted a copy.” And harsh criticism from the food police… “This is the epitome of corporate irresponsibility, marketing this kind of junk,” said Michael Jacobson, from the Center for Science in the Public Interest. “We call this kind of product food porn.” But despite the bad press, or may be because of it, it’s also produced an 8 percent growth in sales for Hardees. Blue-state critics, meet red-state consumers. “Well it’s a heavy burger,” one consumer said. “It definitely fills my stomach up.” The reporter told Puzder, when halfway through his burger: “I can’t eat another bite. I’m all done. Is this common?” “Not for me,” Puzder said.

Speaking of food porn, Puzder’s irreverent sense of humor translates into Hardee’s new and risqué advertising campaign. Seth Stevenson has a review of these ads in Slate — as he concludes, “Whatever I may think of these ads, I bet they’re effective with the target demographic.” He’s probably right — click here for the ad that, er, goes the furthest along this line (it’s entitled “Fist Girl”). [What, exactly, was the point of this post?–ed. Well, there’s a complex observation to be made here about what “Red America” wants — Many lefty commentators believe that Red Staters are getting hoodwinked into buying deceptive political propaganda about “moral values” hook, line, and sinker. The appeal of the Monster Thickburger suggests that Red State denizens know exactly what they want, and appreciate it when it’s sold to them without any deception whatsoever. Oh, bullsh**t, you just wanted to write a post with the title of “Food Porn” in it and get yourself a Wonkette link!–ed. The two points are not mutually exclusive.] My question to readers — does the blunt salesmanship make you more likely or less likely to go to a Hardee’s and order a Monster Thickburger? UPDATE: Glenn Reynolds offers his answer as well as a food review. ANOTHER UPDATE: Based on the comments so far (and previous blog posts on this topic), there’s another possible reason for the appeal of the Monster Thickburger — the fact that institutions like the Center for Science in the Public Interest preach against it. Indeed, their decision to label all Thickburgers as “food porn” guaranteed that they would earn sound bites, but the effect might be the opposite of what they intended. I gotta think that if a consumer sees something with that label, it will pique rather than retard their interest (insert your own joke about “larger beef” or “more pork” here). If I was Hardee’s Andy Puzder, I’d try to spam e-mail this CPSI warning to as many potential customers as possible. [What if you were working for the CPSI?–ed. There are two possibilities. One option is to try to beat Hardee’s at their own game and go snarky rather than excessively earnest — like the truth ads with regard to smoking. The other option is to be callous and wait for the Red State population to prematurely decline on its own accord after elevated consumption of Monster Thickburgers.] FINAL UPDATE: This post nicely coincides with Department of Agriculture release of Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2005. Among the key recommendations: “To maintain body weight in a healthy range, balance calories from foods and beverages with calories expended.” (link via food economist Parke Wilde)