Only in America… This is something I heard on the radio on the way into work this morning. At that time, I found it hard to believe my ears, but I just had a quick Google while no one was looking… and it’s true!
As described on the Culinary Lore website, we discover that during the 1980s the folks at the A&W franchise decided to go-head-to-head with the MacDonald’s 1/4-pound burger, a.k.a. the “Quarter Pounder.”
Priding themselves on their cunning, the guys and gals as A&W introduced the 1/3-pound burger thinking that customers would beat a path to their door.
It was sad faces all round when the 1/3-pound burger failed to make an impression, even though it contained more meat than its 1/4-pound competitors.
It was left to a market research firm to discover what had gone wrong. They interviewed a bunch of customers to find that a substantial number thought a 1/3-pound burger contained less meat that its 1/4-pound cousin on the basis that 3 is less than 4.
Admittedly, it’s hard to argue with logic like “3 is less than 4” unless you are prepared to start explaining things by drawing diagrams and speaking very slowly using simple words with few syllables (which is the way I normally talk to Americans, now I come to think about it).
The reason I’m waffling on about this here is that IT’S BACK! It seems that — after only 40 years — the chaps and chapesses at A&W have decided to let bygones be bygones. They are re-introducing the 1/3-pound burger with state-of-the-art branding tailored for a 21st-century audience in the form of the 3/9-pound burger.
On the basis that 9 is undeniably bigger than 4, I have to believe that they are onto a winner. Now that I come to think about it, I’m feeling a mite peckish myself. I just had another Google (it’s been one of those days) to discover that there is an A&W located at 2220 Sparkman Drive NW here in Huntsville, Alabama, which is where I currently hang my hat.
If you’ll excuse me, I feel it’s my duty to verify that A&W’s 3/9 > 1/4 claims are indeed correct, so I will bid you adieu until we meat (Freudian slip) again.
If you want to laugh and then shake your head Google “Jay Leno jaywalking”.
A Canadian comic, Rick Mercer, used to do something similar with “Talking to Americans”.
i don’t doubt that the shows are all edited for laughs, and I am pretty sure that it is easy to find examples like these in any populace. But you still have to wonder…
I think the 3/9 will flop as well. Why not work in ounces and round down to 5oz. Then all A&W had to do is convince everyone that 1/4lb is 4oz.
I’m still reeling from the discovert that american pints, quarts, and gallons are different to their imperial counterparts.
Or maybe they should use 5/16. All American mechanics know that a 5/16 nut is bigger than a 1/4 nut.
They could call it a “Mechanics Special Burger”
Today’s graduates may pause at that math question, but Ill bet they know who lives in a pineapple under the sea…
1,000 curses — now I’ll have that song rattling around in my head all day 🙂