Hardees, Carl’s Jr. Tip the Scales with Foot-Long Hamburger

The bigger the better they say, and the latest offering from Hardee’s and sister company Carl’s Jr. caters to those who hunger for more. The most recent fad-laden feast to be branded by a fast-food chain is the foot-long hamburger.

The sandwich packs a savory 71 calories per inch (a bona fide diet item on some fast-food menus) and consists of 20 grams of saturated fat. The inventors have packed three beef patties and three slices of cheese into their masterpiece, and it’s available to test at 50 stores each in Southern California and Indiana – all for just $4.50 with lettuce and tomato or $4.00 without.

Hardee’s and Carl’s Jr. cater to the 18-24 male audience, and that particular demographic apparently has the stomach and wherewithal to tackle this latest caloric beast. As one Hardee’s spokesperson put it, fans of Hardee’s aren’t big fans of carrot sticks and lettuce wedges. Asking for a fork at Hardee’s might set off a staff-wide panic attack.

Hardee’s and Carl’s Jr. are well-known for providing customers with products that increase pant sizes rather efficiently. In fact, The Daily Beast described some items on their menus as caloric A-bombs. These include the Monster Thickburger (1,320 calories), the Double Bacon Cheese Thickburger (1,200 calories) and the Double Thickburger (1,150 calories). And that doesn’t include the healthy portion of fries – a true oxymoron – that comes with the combo.

If the 100 establishments that sell these foot longs find enough willing customers, Hardee’s and Carl’s Jr. promise their patrons from across the country that they too will be able to delve into 12 inches of meat.

Hardee’s and Carl’s Jr. have obviously paid attention to the success of Subway’s $5 foot long campaign, and they’ve decided to do their own, unique version. The battle of $5 foot longs is a hotly contested one, as Sonic and Quizno’s have rolled out their own versions, with plans for new menu additions. Quizno’s promises a prime-rib foot long in the near future and Subway is even expanding its 12-inch options with an upcoming spicy line of sandwiches.

If you can’t wait until lunchtime, there’s always the opportunity to take advantage of Subway’s foot-long steak-and-cheese omelets. It seems fairly obvious that the current fast-food market easily permits a poor, hungered soul to peruse a cornucopia of extended-size sandwiches and pile up a hefty total of 36 or 48 inches of culinary satisfaction any given day of the week. Without supersizing a single thing.