Nihilists and Gamers - Arby's Social Media Branding

When people talk about fast food advertising, people most often think of the Wendy's Twitter or Burger King's invasive smart home device targeting. However, they aren't the only brands with notable strategies.

Ever the underdog, fast food brand Arby's has made a reputation for themselves by targeting a demographic that often also identifies as an underdog - nerds. They began this strategy back in 2015, by starting to make references to niche pop culture, such as video games and anime. The photos below showcase some of these references, which are often photographs of crafts made out of cardboard, a unique art style that also attracts attention from crafters.

Source: Arby's Twitter

A screencap of a Game of Thrones themed
Arby's Facebook Post

The copy accompanying these ads is usually a simple reference to whatever is featured in the picture, and rarely references Arby's themselves, letting the food and colors of the picture speak for itself. This subtle, not-in-your-face style and lack of overusing hashtags is a different approach that most fast food brands do not opt to take. This strategy greatly differs from their radio and television presence, which is highly dominated by their 'We have the meats' slogan and takes on a hyper-masculine, chill guy attitude and tone, however, has thus far proven to be successful, giving Arby's a follower count of 823k and a Facebook following of over 3 million.

Not everyone thinks this strategy is effective, however, and as often happens on the internet, parody accounts pop up. Arby's biggest internet troll is most notably the Nihilist Arby's Twitter, run by a copywriter and punk rock star, Brendan Kelly. The account tweets cynical thoughts framed in a corporate tone, such as "Lots of other fast food twitters say crap like 'fries make everything okay.' But you know what? Life sucks & the fries do nothing. Eat Arbys." On why he started the parody account, Kelly stated, "Twitter is such a great medium, but it's misunderstood, generationally. It's like an awesome newspaper where everyone can customize what they get by following certain entities, whether they want comedy, politics or naked chicks. But then you have these dumb corporations that just don't get it, you know? And fast-food brands unbelievably perpetuate the most terrible of ideas." When the Twitter account got particularly big, Kelly made the following video, acting out the personality of the account:

As a PR move to combat parody accounts like Kelly's experiencing larger followings and engagements than their own account, Arby's addressed him directly, by visiting him at his office with a bag of Arby's and a puppy in tow. They left him with a note that read, "Cheer up, buddy. You live in a world with puppies ... and sandwiches."


When brands can acknowledge their trolls in ways that isn't trying to 'drag' or fire back at them or deny the humor of the accounts, it leaves a better taste in everyone's mouth and leads to positive PR for the brand moreso than trying to gain 'cool kid' credit, akin to Wendy's account. By not trying to shut down the account, Arby's shows they support creative freedom, which is consistent with the brand they try to make through their above showcased nerdy-crafty style of advertisements. Keeping this branding consistent within the niche they have found is what has allowed Arby's social media strategy to remain successful.