Influx

The crazy thing about trends is that they often come in pairs and that for every extreme, there is sometimes an opposite reaction.

This manifests itself most clearly in the fast food industry, where, despite frequent noise from media and the health lobby, some of the major players keep focusing their efforts on making their products even bigger.

One example pointed by the Fast Food news blog, is Hardee’s.

The CEO is unafraid of his company’s stance and declared at a recent investor meeting, “I think the health food craze is happening mostly among journalists”.

The week prior to this announcement, Hardee’s launched the Philly Cheesesteak Monster Thickburger.

Close you eyes now, if you don’t want to see the nutritional information for this product.

930 calories (570 from fat)
63 grams of fat
24 grams of saturated fat
135 mg of cholesterol
1750 mg of sodium
52 grams of carbohydrates
3 grams of fiber
10 grams of sugars
41 grams of protein

Eating what you want is a fundamental American right and for some, the more extreme the expression, the greater the satisfaction.

There is a business here and Hardee’s is smart to capitalize on this.

Sometimes it’s easy to push a brand or a company 150% towards an obvious emerging trend, while ignoring its polar twin. As Hardee’s example shows, sometimes there’s value in taking the opposite path.