Menu hacking: Have it your way

One of the appeals of the fast-food is simplicity. Pull into a drive-thru, choose from a straightforward list of familiar items, receive them, and eat. Not so anymore. Today we are all about rule-breaking, hacking familiar offerings into creations all our own—like, say, a [burger-bun ice-cream sandwich at Shake Shack]( posting trophy photos of the results on social media. And this is not a practice limited to fast-food joints. A surge in dietary restrictions, allergic and self-imposed, has made the concept of custom-ordering common across dining tiers. “We do it to have our tastes accommodated, to appear in the know, or to get superior treatment.” Alison Pearlman, author of [May We Suggest: Restaurant Menus and the Art of Persuasion,]( [writes at LitHub](. “The belief that there’s some risk of rejection—even if only for other people—gives special orders a further air of triumph.” And that powerful psychology has considerable marketing potential. 🐦 [Tweet this!]( 🌐 [View this email on the web]( Sponsored by [Quartz Obsession] Menu hacking December 19, 2018 Extra cheese, please --------------------------------------------------------------- One of the appeals of the fast-food is simplicity. Pull into a drive-thru, choose from a straightforward list of familiar items, receive them, and eat. Not so anymore. Today we are all about rule-breaking, hacking familiar offerings into creations all our own—like, say, a [burger-bun ice-cream sandwich at Shake Shack]( posting trophy photos of the results on social media. And this is not a practice limited to fast-food joints. A surge in dietary restrictions, allergic and self-imposed, has made the concept of custom-ordering common across dining tiers. “We do it to have our tastes accommodated, to appear in the know, or to get superior treatment.” Alison Pearlman, author of [May We Suggest: Restaurant Menus and the Art of Persuasion,]( [writes at LitHub](. “The belief that there’s some risk of rejection—even if only for other people—gives special orders a further air of triumph.” And that powerful psychology has considerable marketing potential. 🐦 [Tweet this!]( 🌐 [View this email on the web]( Go deeper with Quartz Membership --------------------------------------------------------------- We’re on the way to a fully legal global weed trade. 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[Explore membership]( Giphy Glossary Know your hacks --------------------------------------------------------------- There’s no end to the number of creative combinations that can be made in fast-food kitchens, but here are a few that have gained enough mainstream momentum to get special nicknames: - Quesarito, Chipotle: A burrito wrapped in a quesadilla instead of a normal tortilla - Burritodilla, Chipotle: A quesadilla made with burrito fillings - Kimchi stew, Momofuku Noodle Bar: Braised kimchi and shredded pork with rice cakes, by request only - Ice Cream Sandwich, Shake Shack: Ask for [a side of grilled burger buns]( when you order frozen custards - Cap’n Crunch Frappuccino, Starbucks: Strawberries and Crème Frappuccino with caramel, toffee, and hazelnut syrups, plus java chips for crunch - Butterbeer Frappuccino, Starbucks: Crème Frappuccino with three pumps each of caramel syrup and toffee-nut syrup, topped with a caramel drizzle - Land, Sea and Air Burger, McDonald’s: A burger, a chicken patty, and a Filet O’ Fish sandwiched between buns - Monster Mac, McDonald’s: A Big Mac with eight patties - Flying Dutchman, In-N-Out: Two slices of cheese melted between meat patty “buns.” - White Gummy Bear, Jamba Juice: Peach juice; soy milk; strawberries, and a blend of raspberry, lime, pineapple and orange sherbet. - Medicine Ball, Starbucks: Steamed lemonade, citrus mint green tea, peach herbal tea, and honey. (The cold and flu remedy swept social media so thoroughly that [Starbucks added it to the menu]( - Triple Breakfast Stack, McDonald’s: Bacon, egg, cheese, and sausage in one massive sandwich - #Alfredcone, Alfred Coffee and Kitchen: Espresso or macchiato served in a chocolate-dipped waffle cone - Sponsored by JPMorgan Chase & Co. Want to help create gender equality in the workplace? Here’s where to start. --------------------------------------------------------------- For men looking for ways to be effective allies, often the hardest part is getting started. Thankfully, even small actions can make a big difference.[Read our guide here.]( Origin Story The In-N-Out of it --------------------------------------------------------------- It’s hard to pinpoint exactly where and when the secret menu craze kicked off, but we do know that In-N-Out Burger can trace the origins of “Animal Style” back to the 1960s. Stacy Perman, author of [In-N-Out Burger]( [told Eater]( about a possibly apocryphal story about SoCal surfers stopping by the hamburger joint to replenish their energy stores after a long day out on the waves. Hungry for everything the restaurant had to offer, the surfers would customize their burgers with grilled onions, mustard-fried patties, extra spread, and pickles. Though the staff obliged, the neatly dressed employees with their crisp paper hats viewed the ravenous, sun-baked surfers as rather beastly. Thus, when the surfer-specific customizations popped up on an order ticket, the staff began referring to it as “Animal Style.” Reuters/Brian Snyder By the digits [56%:]( Proportion of Brits who adapt menus to meet their specific tastes, according to a survey [80%:]( of UK restaurants who said they saw an increase of customers ordering off-menu [60,000:]( Number of ways you can arrange the items on Chipotle’s menu [52:]( Grams of sugar in a Starbucks’ hacker favorite, the 16-oz. [Cap’n Crunch Frappuccino]( [40:]( in years of Burger King’s “Have it your way” slogan, when the chain scrapped it for the more perplexing “Be your way” Quotable “I’m sorry, we’re not allowed to discuss the sandwich with any writers. That would be grounds for termination.” —[Anonymous Arby’s employee]( refusing to discuss the “Meat Mountain” with Slate writer L.V. Anderson “What’s beautiful about this is that companies don’t have to spend a penny advertising. The minute that corporate does something, it’s part of the machine. But this stuff is kind of on the edge, growing, getting attention. If the company tried to do that, it wouldn’t be cool.” —[John Barker]( former chief communications officer at Wendy’s Have a friend who would enjoy our Obsession with Menu hacking? [ [Forward link to a friend](mailto:?subject=Thought you'd enjoy.&body=Read this Quartz Obsession email – to the email – Giphy Million-Dollar Question Are secret menus effective sales tools? --------------------------------------------------------------- No—and yes. Executives seem to [agree]( that the real value of secret menus isn’t as obvious as ringing cash registers. Although companies might experience brief increases in certain product sales as social media goes crazy over the latest #pinkdrink or #unicornfrappuccino, the real “secrets” that are uncovered are priceless customer insights and preferences. Secret menus also let companies test new items to niche audiences without investing in marketing. But it’s complicated. Letting customers run willy-nilly with the menu is antithetical to the efficiencies that let chains operate at scale. For that reason, [according to Alison Pearlman]( many of the “secret menu items” companies promote are nothing more than basic ingredient swaps or combinations that customers can create themselves. This fact is in tension with the true appeal of menu hacking. “When I hear the verb hack… I picture someone trying to game a system. Convinced that an organization can’t be trusted to act in her interests, she resorts to work-arounds and trickery,” [Pearlman writes.]( “The subculture of menu hacking has this mentality in less grim form. But its logic is basically the same. The fast-food chains relate to their customers in a depersonalizing manner, so their customers’ attitude about off-menu ordering follows suit.” Consumers love the idea that something is authentic, so they hate the idea that a company has created a secret menu just to capitalize on their wish for one. In 2013, Panera tried to jump on the secret menu bandwagon but made the mistake of issuing a press release about it. “Panera Bread has no idea how secret menus work,” Food Beast [harrumphed](. Even if a secret menu item does arise organically, a company that’s too eager to exploit it faces similar suspicion. In 2014, eyebrows raised when Arby’s claimed that customers were clamoring for something called the “Meat Mountain,” composed of no less than eight meats. “Is Arby’s Meat Mountain a mountain of lies?” [Slate wondered](. Watch this! You may know that you can pull up to In-N-Out and ask for a 3×3 (“Triple Triple”) or a 4×4 (“Quad Quad”) to get multiple beef patties and multiple slices of cheese. Although those orders aren’t on the menu, they’re not exactly secret—In-N-Out promotes them [online](. But what about [10×10]( 100×100? Depending on how busy the friendly staff at your local In-N-Out are, they may just accommodate your request. Wreckless Eating attempts to take down a 100×100 in this video, but spoiler alert: It doesn’t go well. Stop at 9:00 if you’re squeamish. Giphy Mom & pop’s secrets --------------------------------------------------------------- Chinese restaurants are also famous for having Chinese-language menus that feature dishes that are [left off English-language menus for pragmatic reasons](. “When we recommend jellyfish to Americans they leave half on the table,” one proprietor told the New York Times in 1993. (Quartz has [a guide for politely inquiring]( [Jennifer 8. Lee explained to Marketplace]( that it’s because of Chinese cuisine’s long history in America, which began when US consumer tastes were notoriously bland. Thai restaurants, for example, often have secret or Thai-language menus—but because it’s a later culinary wave, the dishes served to non-Thai diners haven’t been dialed down as much. take me down this 🐰 hole! Check [Hack the Menu]( to find out if your favorite restaurant has a secret code for menu items you didn’t know existed. There’s also a treasure trove of confidential culinary experiences at [Hidden Menu]( a curated site full of secrets that go well beyond your typical fast food chains. AP Photo/Lynne Sladky Poll Have you ever ordered a secret menu item? [Click here to vote]( All Animal Style, all the time.A couple of times, sure.I’ll stick to the menu, thanks. 💬let's talk! In yesterday’s poll about [Love, Actually]( 48% of you said you’ve already watched it three times this season. 📧 We missed one plotline! Aine writes: “Colin’s friend Tony (Abdul Salis) is in most of the scenes with Colin where he tries to dissuade him from moving to America and then he is also linked to John and Judy as he works on the erotic drama which they are body doubles in!” (There’s a lot to keep up with, like a real holiday gathering.) And Erick points out that Jamie goes to France, not Portugal, to write; the restaurant where he fesses up [is in Marseille]( which has [a large Portuguese population](. 🤔 [What did you think of today’s email?](mailto:obsession%2Bfeedback@qz.com?cc=&subject=Thoughts%20about%20menu%20hacking&body=) 💡 [What should we obsess over next?](mailto:obsession%2Bideas@qz.com?cc=&subject=Obsess%20over%20this%20next.&body=) 📬 [Forward this email to a friend](mailto:replace_with_friends_email@qz.com?cc=obsession%2Bforward@qz.com&subject=%F0%9F%92%95Love%20Actually%3A%20The%20holiday%20rom%20com%20we%20hate%20to%20%E2%9D%A4%EF%B8%8F&body=Thought%20you%27d%20enjoy.%20%0ARead%20it%20here%20%E2%80%93%20http%3A%2F%2Fqz.com%2Femail%2Fquartz-obsession%2F1497758) 🎲 [Show me a random Obsession]( Today’s email was written by [Stacy Conradt]( edited by [Jessanne Collins]( and produced by [Luiz Romero](. Enjoying the Quartz Obsession? [Send this link]( to a friend! 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