Good Mood Food

I fell asleep while watching TV last night and woke up to a happy little song.  It was a commercial for Arby's Angus Three Cheese and Bacon Toasted Sub.  It depicted happy people, happy kids, happy parents, and even happy attorneys singing about Good Mood Food.


"Arbys! It's Good Mood Food!"

Now doesn't that sound nice?

Arby's Restaurant Group Inc. on Feb. 27 started a new marketing and advertising campaign -- “Arby’s. It’s Good Mood Food.”  The campaign “highlights Arby’s good, wholesome, tasty food that puts people in a good mood and is the latest step in Arby’s strategy to grow sales and profits,” the Atlanta-based fast-food chain said.

Wow!  Is Arby's concerned with the growing obesity epidemic in America? Diabetes? Heart Disease?

Arby’s revenue fell 9 percent to $1 billion in 2010 but produced a 2.9 percent increase in company-operated same-store sales in the fourth quarter of 2010.


Enter The Good Mood Food Campaign and all those fun commercials with happy, healthy people.

“This campaign is focused on our target audience, Balance Seekers, who want and need to eat fast food because of their busy lifestyles, but do not want to feel guilty about eating it. They’re telling us that Arby’s has something over other fast food restaurants... a balance of higher quality, more wholesome food that they can feel good about eating. We like to think that stopping by Arby’s makes their day a little brighter.”
-Steve Davis, Arby’s chief marketing officer.

People who eat at Arby's believe they are being served higher quality, wholesome food? Really?

Arby's wants to give us more high quality, wholesome, good mood food we can feel good about eating, so they are giving us this:

The Angus Three Cheese and Bacon Toasted Sub Sandwich. 660 calories, 33g of fat (13g saturated), 0.5g trans fat, 1810mg sodium, 2g fiber, 3g sugar, 47g protein.

Interesting.............

Also new to the menu are thick Steakhouse Onion Rings, and a Market Fresh Chopped Side Salad with two types of lettuce, Cheddar cheese and tomato. The salad is priced at $1.99 or can be substituted for fries in a combo meal at no additional charge.

The salad is a nice gesture......

So.....you go to Arbys.  You order their new Angus sandwich combo meal.  You can get a salad to go with it instead of the fries for no additional charge. Hmmmm. French fries or salad? Hold on a minute! Steakhouse Onion Rings? Oh my goodness! You have to try those so you get the fries and a side order of the rings, too. Maybe a token salad for just a $1.99, as well.  You can eat it for lunch tomorrow. And, don't forget the Diet Coke!

But wait! There's more.....

Arby’s also has a new dessert, Outside-In Cinnamon Bites. Flaky doughnut holes filled with melted cinnamon cream cheese inspired by a combination of beignets and cinnamon rolls. They’re priced at $1 for three.

Oh, what the heck.  Toss a few orders of those in the bag, too. They're only a dollar!

There's also  the new Jamocha Oreo Shake, which will be offered for a limited time this summer. It has a swirl of Oreo cookie sauce and is topped with crumbled chocolate cookies.

Come on!! How can anyone say no to that?

It's a hot summer day, and you're sitting in traffic after work.  You pull into Arbys to pick up dinner for the family because it's too damn hot to cook. You order yourself a refreshing Jamocha Oreo Shake and suck it down on the ride home. Later, you and the kids sit down in front of TV in your nice, cool air conditioned living room and enjoy your high quality, wholesome Arby's dinner.

I know you are smart, people.  I don't need to go into detail about all the artery-clogging fat, calories, additives, preservatives and unhealthy, artificial ingredients in this food.  You already know. I know you do! Somewhere deep down inside you are well aware that this is anything but high quality, wholesome, good mood food that you can feel good about eating! In fact, if you consume this type of food a few times a week, I guarantee you will be in an awful mood.

Do you feel tired, bloated, depressed, sluggish, angry all the time and you don't know why?

HELLO!!!!

I know I sound like a broken record but when I think of good mood food, it looks like this.....



rice with kale and butternut squash












or this....................

Edamame

and this........

Veggie burger on a whole grain roll

and occasionally (so you don't think I am a complete stick-in-the-mud) even this....

Bloody Mary w/fresh tomato juice & veggies

Advertising addictive, unhealthy sandwiches, fries and desserts as wholesome, healthy, good mood food is an insult to my intelligence. It should be an insult to yours, as well.

Go ahead and eat Arby's if you want. I am not saying you can't have it.  Just don't fall for the hype. Call it like it is. And try to pay attention to how you feel after you eat. Are you in a good mood? I'll bet you will be feeling pretty lousy.

If you would like to know more about REAL good mood food, feel free to comment here or email me at: metamorphosis321@hotmail.com.  I would be happy to share with you!

And this is my Daily Cyn.......