Competitive Intelligence

Hardees Monster Thinkburger: Fast Food Luxury Differentiation = Five Bucks, 1400 Cals, 107 Grams Fat

The Hardee's fast food chain has rolled out its new 1400 calorie Monster Thickburger, with 107 grams of fat. The sandwich boasts two one-third-pound slabs of beef, four strips of bacon, three slices of cheese, topped with mayonnaise on a buttered sesame seed bun.

The Monster Thickburger costs five dollars, 49 cents. Or for a little more than seven dollars, you can get fries and a soda. An executive says it's the burger that "everyone would like to get, but not the one you get all the time". Hmmm... I think it’s an interesting approach to competitive product differentiation myself – certainly appealing to the less-healthy customer, and bucking the trend (building a counter-trend?) toward healthier fare by competitors like McDonald’s and Subway, they’re carving out a niche to set themselves apart.

Though you won’t catch me eating one of these monsters, the company must feel secure enough that class action lawsuits by overweight Hardee's customers is probably an unlikely eventuality... even if it happened, they're certainly given everyone fair warning that this thing is just plain bad for you. Taking a page from the tobacco industry, they're declaring this the dietary equivalent of smoking a few packs of cigarettes a day.

- Arik