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Food

Arby's Sent <em>The Daily Show</em> Free Lunch Every Time Jon Stewart Threw Shade At Them


By

Rebecca Fishbein

Published Dec 5, 2015

Modified Dec 5, 2015


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By

Rebecca Fishbein

Published Dec 5, 2015

Modified Dec 5, 2015


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Jon Stewart spewed a lot of well-placed rage during his time on The Daily Show, with frequent targets including Tucker Carlson, Chris Christie, and Dick Cheney. But one of Stewart's fiercest enemies was fast food chain Arby's, a place Stewart referred to as "food classified as a war crime," "shock and awe for your bowels," and "pig anus and cheese," among other things. But it turns out Arby's—which is opening a Times Square location soon—was a pretty good sport about it, sending Stewart and his crew lunch each time they were insulted on air.

The Associated Press interviewed Arby's' Chief Marketing Officer, Rob Lynch, who praised The Daily Show for all its unintended ad space. In fact, Arby's was so cool about Stewart's abuse, they decided to send the whole crew free lunch every single time Stewart insulted the brand.

"We had to make a tough decision. Do we send him a letter saying, 'We can't believe you're doing this — we use the highest quality ingredients.' Or do we play along?" Lynch said. "So we sent him and his crew lunch, and they sent us back a letter saying, 'Usually when we make fun of people, they send us nasty letters. You sent us lunch. That's awesome.'... And then it happened again. And it happened again. And again."

For reference, here are a few examples of Arby's insults, via the Post.

Arby's also got back at Stewart by naming a footlong sandwich after him, and by creating an ad using this beautiful supercut of insults:

[h/t Grub Street]

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Jon Stewart

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