It’s every guy’s fantasy – you’re sitting there, minding your own business, when a gorgeous model saunters up and says, “Call me.” This spring, Arby’s made that dream come true, for one average Joe … well, sort of. In a new television ad for its Bacon Cheddar Roastburger–a departure from greasy fast food burgers–Arby’s Restaurant Group Inc. teamed up with Sports Illustrated swimsuit model, Tori Praver, for a tongue-in-cheek look at just what could go wrong with that scenario if you’re eating the wrong lunch.
The 30-second spot, created by Merkley + Partners and titled “Digits,” depicts an average man sitting on a park bench eating a greasy fast-food burger. Praver, looking very model-like, walks by and hands the man a note containing her phone number. When the man opens the note, his greasy fingers smear the last four digits of her phone number. The man, left with a mouthful, tries to get Praver’s attention, but she drives off mouthing the words, “Call me.”
“With this ad, we wanted to humorously show how one greasy lunch choice could go horribly wrong,” says Steve Davis, chief marketing officer, Arby’s Restaurant Group Inc. “Perhaps if he’d been eating a Roastburger sandwich, the story would have ended differently.”
Tori Praver, who started her modeling career as the youngest face of GUESS? at 17, has been featured on the covers of Cosmopolitan, Elle, and Glamour and appeared in major fashion spreads in Elle, Glamour, Allure and GQ. She is currently the face of Billabong and has been featured in ad campaigns for Liu Jo, Ann Taylor, IZOD, Yamamay, Redken, Golden Lady, and Kanebo and has walked the catwalk for Halston, Cynthia Rowley, Zac Posen, Miss Sixty, and more. This year, millions of Praver’s fans were able to see her grace the pages of the 2009 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue, an honor she also received in 2007 and 2008.
“Digits” is the latest in a series of television ads that offer a comical take on Arby’s Roastburger sandwich advantage. Roastburger sandwiches pair the company’s signature, oven-roasted, freshly sliced roast beef with classic burger toppings such as pepper bacon, cheddar and bleu cheeses, lettuce, tomato, and onions. Another recent ad features a burger joint employee throwing a burger through an Arby’s window with a note that read, “Stop making Roastburgers…or else.”
