Hungry Horse’s “Double Donut Burger” is this week’s PR winner

 13th November 2014    Good and Bad PR 

Good PR

Doughnut burger?

Food PR 101; create something with enough calories in it to trigger an instant heart attack and tell journalists about it. Well, that’s exactly what the pub chain Hungry Horse did this week.

Have you ever been about to sink your teeth into a meaty burger, only to stop and think “this would be so much better with a doughnut!” No? Me neither. Before you ask, it’s not just because I’m one of those annoying vegetarians (as my Twitter bio will tell you, I crave bacon near-constantly).

I just can’t imagine mixing that much sugar with that much meat. Still, Hungry Horse has given it a go with its new “Double Donut Burger”. Yep, you bet-cha ... that’s two burgers, sandwiched between two glazed doughnuts with plenty of cheese and bacon in between.

Yes, health critics have obviously kicked off about this “delicious” delight because it comes in at a whopping 1,996 calories. That’s 98 per cent of a woman’s Guideline Daily Amount. The 53g of saturated fat it contains is well above the 20g and 30g allowance for women and men respectively.

It’s not as if Hungry Horse is trying to deny how bizarre the culinary creation is. It’s advertised with the tag line “So Wrong It’s Right”.

It’s not even the worst thing on the menu either in terms of calorific content. The BBQ Pulled Pork (Wo)Man Vs Burrito the chain sells contains 3,500 calories and the pub is renowned for its super-sized dishes.

The team behind it would have fully expected health critics to slate it. In this instance, the saying “all PR is good PR” certainly rings true. More people now know about the Double Donut Burger and will probably be trying to hunt one down as we speak. Even if the chain is forced to pull it from the menu, the media exposure will still have happened.

Remember kids, eat responsibly.

In other fast-food news, Burger King has just launched in India with Long Lines.

Shannon Haigh, 10 Yetis, @ShazzaYeti on Twitter

Seen any good or bad PR recently, you know what to do, @10Yetis on Twitter or andy@10yetis.co.uk on email.