The world's supposed craze over all things bacon seems to be an endless gold mine for fast food advertisers shilling meat-heavy foods.
Arby's and Taco Bell rolled out new ad campaigns this week to promote bacon-infused menu items, each taking a different approach to the played-out theme.
Arby's, which has taken on a meat-loving brand persona akin to Parks and Rec's Ron Swanson, is trolling vegetarians with a press release framed as an "open letter" to those of them who might be tempted by its brown sugar-glazed bacon.
The roast beef shop also launched a telephone hotline, where an operator dispenses different bits of automated advice depending on whether the caller has "caved." One such tip: “Now, take a deep breath, and go make a salad.”
The promotion is the latest in a chain of meat-themed marketing stunts from the fast food brand, which also include a record-breaking 13-hour commercial of smoking meat and an off-menu sandwich dubbed the Meat Mountain.
Meanwhile, Taco Bell takes a more nuanced approach, sending up the world's well-worn obsession with the fatty meat while simultaneously pitching its new bacon chalupas.
The spot features a shopping mall in a semi-dystopian world ravaged by bacon mania -- shoppers toting bags from "Baconista" and "Bacon Couture" take selfies with meat-tinted shades, a store clerk sprays samples of bacon fragrance and a man gets a strip inked on his arm.
Selling people bacon while also poking fun at their fixation on it is a tough line to walk, so Taco Bell attempts to make a distinction in the tagline: "Bacon you can't eat is bacon you don't need."
The Mexican-styled fast food chain even followed it up with mock ads for bacon-themed products. The short snippets are meant to take the bacon craze to ridiculous logical extremes, though many either seem like plausible products or exist already.
Bacon may not be a common ingredient in south-of-the-border cuisine but that matters little to Taco Bell, which has shown a mad scientist-like zeal for prolific junk food mash-ups such as the Quesarito, the Dorito-shelled taco and the Cap'n Crunch donut hole.