SIX YEARS OF SLINGING SANDWICHES changes a person.
Co-directing the Arby’s creative machine at Fallon was challenging and rewarding, grounding and frenetic in equal measure. During my tenure, I grew the business, managed a robust creative team, nurtured talent, won awards, and made work I’m really proud of.
By the time I arrived, the brand was already a bombastic success. What I can take credit for is ensuring the brand’s longevity by helping it evolve beyond TV. Taking a beloved voice and seeing how it behaves in the world. Making a point-of-view something you can experience instead of just watch.
This page is exclusively reserved for those kinds of things. The most demented and highly effective Arby’s ideas I had a hand in. Unhinged stuff that made people wonder if there was a gas leak in their apartment.
But don’t worry, my traditional TV work is here, too. Safely tucked away and somewhat organized on the other end of this link.
Fish DisS
Ocean meats. Arby’s has those, too. In fact, the quality of Arby’s fish sandwich is far superior to that of the Filet-O-Fish. But it’s impossible to know that when McDonald’s media outspends Arby’s 10 to 1.
To set the record straight, we needed the greatest diss track writer of our time to verbally annihilate McDonald’s. It had to be done. What else were we to do?
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Agency: Fallon
Creatives: Shauna Gajavada, Matt Terrell
CD: Joe Johnson, Mike Behrends, and Me
Editor: Jesse Thompson
ECD: Rick Utzinger
CCO: Leslie Shaffer & Nikki Baker
that arby’s tiktok thing
Once upon a time, a teenager bought a tv, brought it home, plugged it in, and discovered that an Arby’s menu was permanently frozen on the screen. He shared the experience on TikTok, intriguing millions. Then we ran with it.
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Agency: Fallon
Copywriter: Nick Massahos
CD: Joe Johnson and Me
Social Strategist: Mara Keller
Head of Social: Greg Swan
ECD: Rick Utzinger
the deep fried turkey pillow
Listen, it was November. Arby’s had a delicious, nap-inducing deep fried turkey sandwich to sell. We were six months into a pandemic and SNL was getting good again. We wanted to spread the word about this sandwich but, as always, we wanted to stir up some viral chaos, too. So we dreamed up, designed, produced, and marketed a travel pillow that sets your head exactly where you’ve always wanted it to be, inside of a crispy turkey carcass. We ran an infomercial for it during SNL, blurring the lines of art and life. People bought them. The pillows, yes, but also, the sandwiches.
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Agency: Fallon
Creatives: Chris Berry, Mike Behrends
CD: Joe Johnson and Me
ECD: Rick Utzinger
Director and Editor: Collin Goodspeed
ladanian tomlinson’s arby’s steakhouse
Arby’s test kitchen came out with steak sandwich using petite filet steak served medium. A steak sandwich that has no business being served out of a drive-thru. So we served it out of a steakhouse. And to ensure that diners took our steakhouse seriously, we did what every other legitimate steakhouse does: put a retired athlete’s name on the door.
Welcome to Ladanian Tomlinson’s Arby’s Steakhouse. It’s a revamped Arby’s in New York City where no tender detail was spared. From the quality of the steak sandwiches to the crisp linens to the oversized jackets available to borrow in case you forgot to bring your own. People stood in line for hours. Ladanian cut a ribbon. Hands were shaken. Steak was had. Read more about it here, or here. This one is funny, too.
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Agency: Fallon
Creatives: Chris Berry, Mike Behrends, Joel Bratsch
CD: Charlie Wolff and Me
ECD: Rick Utzinger
Production: Arts & Sciences
Directors: Adam and Dave
He’s meticulous, obsessive, and quirky. He loves condiments more than he loves people. He can’t believe you misspelled Reuben. And he’s loosely based on a real guy who used to work at Arby’s.
The Head of Sandwiches embodies Arby’s commitment and enthusiasm to crafting the perfect sandwich. We used broadcast to make his introduction, eventually expanded on his backstory. There was a 1-800 number to solicit his sandwich recommendations that received thousands of calls. And every Arby’s Subscription Box Service delivery (section below) always included a letter with his tasting notes and musings.
the head of sandwiches
H John Benjamin, the comedic actor who plays the Head of Sandwiches, had his first date at an Arby’s in Worcester, MA.
“I was, like, in sixth grade. I borrowed $3 from my parents. I rode my bike,” Benjamin said. “And she took the roast beef sandwich and ran.”
Still, he took the gig and never cried on set.
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Agency: Fallon
Art Direction: Chris Berry, Rob Anton
Copywriting: Mike Behrends, Joel Bratsch
CD: Charlie Wolff and Me
ECD: Rick Utzinger
Production: Arts and Sciences
Directors: Adam and Dave
If it feels like Arby’s offers a different line of sandwiches every month, it’s because they do. The problem is, sandwich news doesn’t travel fast enough. By the time someone finds out about a new LTO (Limited Time Offer, for you civilians), its gone from the menu.
To prime diners to expect monthly sandwich news, we introduced a subscription box service. Every month, subscribers received a voucher for that month’s LTO, thematically relevant swag, and a letter from Arby’s Head of Sandwiches. It sold out in less than an hour.
arby’s of the month subscription box service
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Agency: Fallon
Creatives: Matt Terrell, Mike Behrends, Meredith Oberg and Me
if the pageantry of the olympics makes you tear up, just skip this one.
Advertising during the Opening Ceremony of the Olympics is a huge challenge. Vying for attention is hard with Procter and Gamble making everyone cry. Arby’s needed a message of hope and unity of its own.
You can guess where this is going.
“This song makes me want to hug someone I don’t like. ”
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Agency: Fallon
Creatives: Matt Terrell and Me
CD: Charlie Wolff
CCO: Jeff Kling
Editor: Jesse Thompson
Talent: Sean Donovan
HOw to convince people to get an arby’s tattoo?
It’s shocking how little it actually takes.
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Agency: Fallon
Creatives: Matt Terrell, Rob Anton, Meredith Oberg
CD: Me
ECD: Rick Utzinger
Illustrator: Miguel "Uzi" Montgomery
arby’s tour of HAWAII
PIt-smoked ham. Pineapple habanero salsa. King’s Hawaiian buns.
For just $6, Arby’s Kings Hawaiian sandwiches transport you to an island paradise. To announce this line of sandwiches, we sold $6 trips to actual Hawaii.
Arby’s $6 Hawaiian Getaway flies you to Honolulu to see the sights — all three Arby’s King’s Hawaiian sandwiches—and then flies you right back home. No volcanoes. No pineapple farms. Just you, sweet buns, tender meats, and a Hawaiian paradise to eat them in.
Who would do that to themselves? Watch the video, or read more about here, here, or here.
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Agency: Fallon
Creatives: Meredith Oberg, Matt Terrell, Shauna Gajavada
CD and Writer: Me
ECDs: Rick Utzinger and Patrick Figueroa