BY JUDE HART
If you’ve turned on a television set in the last few months, you’ve seen the commercials. The ones featuring film star Ving Rames’ voice saying Arby’s trademark slogan: “We have the meats.”
A bold claim, indeed, but a claim that Arby’s has been using to promote their new Greek treat: the gyro.
I must admit, these advertisements worked on me and my fellow classmate Conor Mackey. Just last weekend we trekked to the Norwood Arby’s for the sole purpose of trying a gyro. But when we reached the establishment, we were in for a rude awakening.
The man at the front counter said that there was no more gyro meat. He said that, in fact, there was no more gyro meat anywhere in the area.
I was astounded, so I decided to look into the gyro enigma. What is the deal with this gyro promotion? Do people like Arby’s gyros? And, most importantly, where was the meat?
I called up a dozen Arby’s in the area. Many of the Arby’s employees that I talked to seemed busy and uninterested in talking to me, but, luckily, three general managers did agree to speak with me.
First, Melissa from the Kenwood Arby’s expounded on the breadth of Arby’s advertising campaign.
“We advertise on store windows, the radio, TV. We’ve been using almost every medium available to get the word out there,” says Melissa.
She also talked about how profitable the gyro promotion is.
“The gyro promotion has always been very successful,” says Melissa.
Jessica from the Sharonville Arby’s explained the specifics of the gyro promotion.
“It’s two gyros for $6. It’s a really good deal,” says Jessica.
Nick from the Cold Springs Arby’s in Kentucky talked about the circumstances surrounding the gyro meat shortage.
“They sold out a lot faster than we anticipated. The distributor ran out of original gyro meat because they just didn’t think we would sell this much,” says Nick.
All three of the employees confirmed that restaurants in the tri-state area are completely out of original gyro meat, and there does not appear to be a plan to restock. However, they do still have roast beef and turkey gyros, something that I wish the employee at the Norwood Arby’s had informed me of.