17030: Arby’s Declares, “We Have The White Meats.”

 

Advertising Age reported Arby’s put its creative account in review, meaning the fast-food restaurant may be seeking new White meat—i.e., a new White advertising agency.

 

Given the anti-woke/anti-DEIBA+ vibe throughout Adland and the USA, is Ving Rhames’ spokesperson status in jeopardy?

 

Somebody’s gonna get medieval on your ass.

 

Arby’s puts its creative account in review

 

By Ewan Larkin and Erika Wheless

 

Arby’s is conducting a review for its creative business, threatening Fallon’s longstanding relationship with the fast-food sandwich chain.

 

Arby’s confirmed that it is conducting a review. It wasn’t immediately clear if Fallon is defending the account. The Publicis Groupe agency declined to comment. Joanne Davis Consulting, the consultancy said to be handling the review, was not immediately available for comment.

 

The agency review comes a few months after Jeff Baker became Arby’s chief marketing officer after several years with Buffalo Wild Wings. Baker served as VP of brand advertising and content at Arby’s from 2014 to 2018.

 

Arby’s is best known for its iconic “We have the meats” tagline, which Fallon created in 2014 after taking over the creative account from CP&B (now Crispin). The tagline is voiced by Ving Rhames. Rhames made his first on-camera appearance for Arby’s last year in an ad from Fallon in which a woman voices that she hasn’t eaten at Arby’s in a while. “No one has,” says her boyfriend, before Rhames climbs out of the TV to accost the man and make him eat an Arby’s sandwich.

 

The fast-food chain’s recent ads are for its new ham sandwiches. It also recently made potato cakes a permanent menu item, threatening to sue themselves if they ever take them off the menu again.

 

The brand’s measured U.S. media spending declined to $138 million in 2024 from $190 million in 2023, per MediaRadar.

 

Arby’s ranks 20th in Nation’s Restaurant News 2024 restaurant rankings, which are based on system-wide domestic sales from the previous year. Arby’s saw $4.6 billion in U.S. systemwide sales, up slightly from $4.5 billion in 2022, and has over 3,400 domestic locations according to the rankings. Arby’s is owned by Inspire Brands, which also owns Buffalo Wild Wings, Dunkin’, Sonic, Baskin-Robbins and Jimmy Johns.

 

In 2021, Inspire Brands picked Publicis Groupe as its media agency of record.

 

Contributing: Brian Bonilla