Mega Marketing

Can a person eat seven pounds of greasy food in one sitting and live to tell the tale? Will a 20-inch pizza fit into the human stomach? Do 16 scoops of ice cream in one hour induce coma? We seem increasingly compelled to find out.
Television shows such as Man v. Food Nation have helped flame the fires, so to speak. Aired on the Travel Channel, the show’s host Adam Richman travels the country taking on food challenges requiring him to eat insanely large and insanely spicy foods (think mountains of habañero peppers) in one sitting.
Until a couple years ago, Joe Bechtold, owner of the Midway Travel Plaza, had never heard of an eating challenge. But thanks to a little inspiration from the Travel Channel, he’s now the proud creator of The Big 70, containing seven biscuits, 70 ounces of sausage gravy and four pieces of bacon.
Eating challenges as marketing tools “are kind of a funky new genre in the business world,” says Joel Poor, associate teaching professor of marketing at the College of Business at the University of Missouri. For better or worse, they seem to be gaining popularity.
Mainly, he says, they’re effective for places such as mom-and-pop diners or pizza parlors or burger joints — places where the target audience might be looking for big value or just something wacky and offbeat they can share with friends later. The challenges are also a clever way of promoting a signature dish.
“You’re obviously not going to become a millionaire with this kind of marketing,” Poor says. “But there is definite benefit in creating a buzz about your restaurant or a certain product.
“Of course, the more popular they become, the less effective they become. With too many of them, they begin lose their appeal. Plus, there is only so much stomach room in Columbia for taking all these challenges, right?”
Think you’re up to the challenge? Here’s the skinny on some that we found in the Columbia area:

The Stadium Grill

Hail Mary Burger

Challengers had better say a prayer before biting into The Stadium Grill’s Hail Mary Burger. This holy terror weighs in at an approximate seven pounds: four one-pound beef patties each with a slice of cheese, four fried eggs, a big ol’ heap of pulled pork, a pile of fried onion straws, eight pieces of bacon and a pound of French fries.
Finishing this meal might require divine intervention. In the two years since it was created, no one has been able to complete the challenge. If you do it, the owners will fork over $50 worth of gift certificates each month for a year and you’ll get to rename the burger. Plus, you’ll be the one shining star on the currently empty Wall of Fame.
The Grill once had a customer who came close to finishing the whole shebang, owner Craig Hindelang says. The guy was a professional eater, but still the Hail Mary prevailed. Rather than giving the customer the money, the Stadium Grill donated the cash prize of $600 to the Central Missouri Food Bank.
Thirty-four-year-old Aaron Bell gave it his best shot. His friends got a good laugh out of it, but about halfway through he had to throw in the napkin.
“It’s one thing to imagine it, but it’s another thing in real life,” he says. “It was much bigger than I expected. I don’t know who could eat that much. Maybe a professional eater like Maru Kobayashi but not me.”
Still, Bell has kind words for the Holy Mother. The Hail Mary does work well as a marketing tool, he says. He tried it after hearing others talk about it. Plus, the $50-per-month gift card reward is an attractive incentive.
“It’s actually a smart way to get people into the restaurant,” he says. “The day I tried, we brought probably 10 or 15 friends with us. And that was a slow day, so that burger brought in a lot of customers who might not have been there otherwise.”

Carrie Lynn’s Ice Cream Parlor

The Bellyache

Most of Carrie Lynn Thomas’ customers are begging for sweet relief after taking her famous Bellyache Challenge: 16 scoops of ice cream, two chocolate chip cookies, 10 brownie bites, one diced banana, one scoop of all the toppings (fudge, chocolate, strawberry, pineapple and caramel) and a hefty pile of whipped cream, nuts and cherries.
Using the sundae as a marketing tool wasn’t really intentional, Thomas says. But in the Boonville area, it does get talked about from time to time. Since the shop’s opening in March 2009, about 30 people have bellied up to The Bellyache. Two of them have claimed the prize: the sundae on the house, their photo on the wall and a T-shirt that brags, “I got a Bellyache in Boonville, Mo.!”

Gumby’s Pizza

20-Inch Pizza

Mama mia! Weighing in at an estimated seven pounds, the 20-inch pizza at Gumby’s Pizza will have you crying for mommy.
Owner Noah Schmidt says the restaurant has never intentionally marketed its 20-inch pizza as a “food challenge,” but its ridiculous size still manages to get people talking. And if someone did manage to down the whole thing in one sitting, Schmidt says he’d be compelled to send him or her home with a free T-shirt just because.
“I wouldn’t recommend trying to eat one by yourself,” he says. “You might get hurt.” Basically, it’s the equivalent of two large pizzas.
Still, Gumby’s has the occasional customer who believes he or she can do it, though no one has yet managed to conquer the beast. There was one customer from years ago who lives on in a foggy, almost-but-not-quite sort of fame. It was late at night, and Schmidt is pretty sure there had been some salubrious beverage consumption involved.
“He came close, but he couldn’t finish the whole thing,” he says. “And I think there were some major regrets afterwards.”

Midway Travel Plaza

The Big 70

Make sure you’ve got a direct route to the closest rest stop before digging into Midway Travel Plaza’s Big 70 Challenge. Served in two bowls because it’s too much food for one, this breakfast is a heaping helping of seven big buttery biscuits topped with 70 ounces of gravy and four pieces of bacon.
“I’ve never tried The Big 70 myself, but if Adam from Man v. Food comes out and wants to give it a try, I might sit down and try to eat it with him,” Bechtold says. “But until then, it’s not really on my list of things to do.”
Also thanks to the Travel Channel, The Big 70 isn’t just for Columbians anymore. The heaping helping of hog heaven is broadcast nationally each week in Truck Stop Missouri, a new reality series focused on Midway’s day-to-day shenanigans.
For Bechtold and his employees, The Big 70 challenge has been one of the best marketing tools in years. The challenge, in combination with the attention it has received since the airing of the show, has brought Midway a long-overdue boost in business. Bechtold says sales have gone up 33 percent since last fall.

“Our main target audience is people who have never been to our restaurant, and The Big 70 has done a great job of bringing those people in,” he says. “Mostly our challengers are male, somewhere between 15 to 50. But mostly, people come in in groups. Maybe someone has talked about doing the challenge for a while and brings his or her co-workers or friends along for the event. It makes for a lot of fun.”
Fifteen-year-old Josh White saw the challenge on Truck Stop Missouri and thought he might be a viable contender. That was before the waitress put the food in front of him.
“I made it about halfway through the first bowl,” he says. I didn’t make it, but it was delicious though. And I had fun trying.”
His mother, Shirley Youssef, had a good time watching. “He tried his best but couldn’t do it,” she says. “Even when he was done and we boxed up the leftover, it still felt like a good 10 pounds or so.”

Fuddrucker’s:

Five-Pound Challenge

Compared to some of Columbia’s other food challenges, Fuddrucker’s Five-Pound Challenge seems almost reasonable. Almost. That is if two one-pound beef patties, a one-pound bun, one pound of French fries and a one-pound milkshake in 30 minutes sounds like a sensible undertaking.
Store manager Roger Hudson says the burger brings in about three or four people per month and that about one in 10 manages to complete the meal.
But you won’t find it at just any Fuddrucker’s. The Columbia team made theirs up as a way to have a laugh and draw some attention to the restaurant. Everyone who takes the challenge buys the meal for $23. Those who finish get a $20 Fuddrucker’s gift certificate and a T-shirt to boast their accomplishment.
“It’s quite a feat,” he says. “Watching someone down that much food, it’s definitely not for everybody.”