How often do you think of…panera bread? The fast-food chain wants you to think about their staple menu items like men thought about the Roman Empire.
On Tuesday, Panera created a menu inspired by a TikTok trend in which women asked men how often they thought about the Roman Empire. (The answer is obviously a lot.) This is just the latest example of a brand jumping on the social media bandwagon in hopes of boosting sales and publicity.
Maybe the only project Panera’s Roman Empire Menu Of course, it’s even reminiscent of Pax Romana’s Caesar salad (supposedly Founded in 1924 by Italian immigrants To escape American prohibition, he opened a restaurant in Tijuana and had no relation to Julius Caesar or Caesar Augustus). The rest of the menu highlights some of Panera’s most iconic dishes, such as Broccoli Cheddar Soup, Macaroni and Cheese, and Grilled Frontega Chicken Panini, with the slogan “Here’s an array of products you won’t be able to stop thinking about!”
Panera’s new menu is a far cry from what Romans actually ate. A Roman-style menu might include a type of fermented fish sauce known as treacle. “garum” and dormouse—A gutted rat, stuffed with minced pork and roasted. Dormouse are still available in Croatia and Slovenia. The beautifully preserved ruins of Pompeii are a window into the cuisine of the Roman Empire. 2019, old fast food stall, also known as thermocouples, were discovered there. City locals buy hot food and drinks from the counter.
The #RomanEmpireTrend hashtag has been viewed more than 51 million times on TikTok. The trend was reportedly started on August 19 by 33-year-old Roman re-enactor Artur Hulu, known on social media as “Gaius Flaviu” Historical influence of Gaius Flavius. Washington post.
“Ladies, many of you don’t realize how often men think about the Roman Empire,” Hulu wrote in a post. Instagram post. “Ask your husband/boyfriend/father/brother – you’ll be surprised by their answers!”
As a result, legions of women were confused when they learned that many men thought about the Roman Empire on a weekly (and sometimes daily) basis. There has been discussion online and in the media about why men think about this question so often.
At the same time, one wonders what the female counterpart to this trend is.Some people on social media mentioned historical periods, e.g. Salem Witch Trials and Titanicwhile others pointed to pop culture moments such as Tom Holland dances to Rihanna’s “Umbrellas.” Some say it in a darker way murder is a woman’s Roman Empire—whether it’s her obsession with true crime stories or her fear of being murdered.
What about you, Brut?
Panera isn’t the only company keeping up with the zeitgeist.
In July, McDonald’s second-quarter sales grew more than 11%, helped by the Grimace Shake trend. In horror movies, TikTokers would wish Grimace (the former retired McDonald’s mascot) a happy birthday and take a sip of a berry-flavored milkshake before pretending to writhe in pain in a purple puddle and suffer a gruesome fake death.
However, McDonald’s didn’t start this dark trend.The company’s social media director said the same thing in an interview LinkedIn Postattributed the success to “brilliant creativity, unfiltered fun, the peak absurdist humor of Gen Z” and “the way a new generation of creators and consumers play with brands.”
Around the same time, Popeye jumped on “Girls dinner” trend through sale Combo meal with side dishes only, such as mashed potatoes, Cajun fries and coleslaw. “Girls’ dinner” is a TikTok term that refers to snack plates of various foods that make up a meal.
One brand even used the publicity of the TikTok trend to form a retail partnership with Whole Foods. reconnaissanceA fish canning company in “Tin Fish Date Night” Trend Late last year, the couple went viral when they added canned seafood to their charcuterie boards. The hashtag #TinFishDateNight has been viewed more than 45 million times on the app.
Panera promotes its new menu in ad TikTok videos Wednesday, one day after the release. But little else has been done to promote the initiative, perhaps a sign of the rush to seize the opportunity. (Of course, none of the dishes on the menu are new and therefore need no introduction.) Still, these examples show that brands are increasingly adapting their marketing strategies to appeal to sometimes strange and unusual trends in social media Driven by the wave of spending.
Svlook
