We should have seen this coming. Grotesque burgers, exemplified by McDonald’s Big Arch, seem to be having a moment. This thousand-calorie burger is delivering on our health secretary’s promise that “beef is back.” In a big way.
Inadvertently or not, the company’s CEO recently created a viral phenomenon for this burger. He posted a video of himself taking a hesitant taste of this monster. All of social media started mocking him at once. But it worked out. Already, sales of that calorie bomb have blown away expectations, proving the adage that “all publicity is good publicity” in the fast-food industry.
Despite – or perhaps because of the intense online mockery – the Big Arch is doing well. It seems to be benefitting from massive free social media promotion.
Beef Is Back
With new dietary guidelines telling Americans to “prioritize protein foods at every meal,” it makes perfect sense for the food industry to seize the moment. How better to prioritize protein than to order up two quarter-pound patties of beef in this burger. Writing in the Washington Post, food reporter Tim Carman calls it an ode to American excess:
“McDonald’s has introduced the country to a burger that at first sniff seems ready-made for the Make America Healthy Again movement and its many contradictions. The Big Arch groans under the weight of its ground beef, which more than doubles the protein packed into a Big Mac while eliminating the extraneous middle bun that often gums up the works of Mickey D’s signature sandwich.”
Doubling Down and Up
People can laugh all they want at the excess of the Big Arch and the flood of big burger rivals it sparks. But we are living in a time when the response to criticism is to double down and bask in the attention. And after all, our new dietary guidelines tell us to double up on protein.
The food industry is really good at following directions. Profitably.
We will see more of this nonsense for sure.
Click here, here, here, and here for more on this fast food marketing phenomenon.
The Big Arch, product illustration by McDonald’s
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