Arby's Double Dippin' Tenders Go the Way of the Buffalo

... the coating is nothing special, but this Buffalo dipping sauce brings the heat. Yet the beauty of Arby's "Double Dippin' " innovation is that when I wanted to cool it down, I could first do a Buffalo dunk, then do a second dip into the ranch-dressing tub. It was like spraying a flame with fire-extinguisher foam. And I could control the thermostat as I pleased. -- food critic Chris Tauber, Palm Beach Post

On Sunday night, I was watching the Dallas Cowboys throttle the Carolina Panthers when I had an irresistible craving for Buffalo Double Dippin' Tenders, a new offering from Arby's that's about the worst, most delicious form of arterial glue imaginable. Processed chicken strips fried in fast-acting concrete batter that you can dip in two sauces: molasses-thick ranch dressing and tabasco-spiked buffalo sauce. A delightful combination of hot-stays-hot and cool-stays-cool.

Arby's Double Dippin' Tenders ad Because I have poor impulse control and a TiVo, I paused the game and made a late-night run to Arby's. The Buffalo Double Dippin' Tenders were gone, and the employee was strangely combative when I lamented their disappearance from the menu. Three inquiries about their fate were interrupted quickly with "we don't sell them any more."

I never got a chance to beg for any remaining tubs of buffalo sauce they had on hand.

The next morning, after a good night's sleep undisturbed by the digestion of spicy chicken tenders, I thought about the conversation and began to suspect that there's more to this story.

I stopped at another Arby's in Jacksonville and got the same response. Before I'd said any more than "Buffalo Double," the clerk said they were no longer on the menu. They've also disappeared completely from the Arby's web site.

Arby's marketed Buffalo Double Dippin' Tenders heavily as recently as Oct. 4, as you can see from this commercial archived by the video search engine TVEyes.Com. A clueless husband disregards his pregnant wife's labor because he's distracted by his desire for BDDT. I can empathize.

Liberal blogger Joshua Marshall likes to send his readers out to engage in pack journalism, each one hounding an individual member of Congress with a tough question that pins them down on a subject such as Social Security privatization.

I'd like to do the same on Workbench, but not for something as trivial as government accountability.

Please go to your nearest Arby's franchise and ask them about Buffalo Double Dippin' Tenders. If the employee permits a follow up question, try to find out why they've abruptly dropped a heavily marketed (and did I mention delicious?) menu item weeks into its introduction.

Perhaps I'm being excessively conspiratorial here, but the American fast-food industry does not introduce products with multimillion dollar advertising campaigns and drop them weeks later. McDonald's took years to abandon the McDLT after Jason Alexander's sang its praises.

Something smells here, and it isn't the delectable aroma of spicy buffalo sauce.

2006/11/01 · 8 COMMENTS · Link

Comments

Why did you inflict that RetroJunk link on us? This is one of the most eloquent paeans to junk food I've ever read (it was almost erotic), but I don't think we should subject it to Freudian analysis.

Really, this sounds like an issue that may require counseling. I felt woozy after I read your ecstatic descriptions of such horrible stuff--the conspiracy delusions, though, were a little, hmm...

#1 · Health Junky · 2006/11/01

Maybe they dropped it because of the NYC ban on trans fats.

#2 · Bob Morris · 2006/11/01

The nice thing about Buffalo meat is that it is very low in fat.

#3 · Ames Tiedeman · 2006/11/01

And a blessing that would be.

It took Oprah Winfrey to jump-start consciousness in the U.S of just how artery-clogging the trans-fats, like partially hydrogenated vegetable oil, are.

#4 · Health Junky · 2006/11/01

Pizza Hut had something similar, not as good though

hungry howies spicy chicken things are good.... *drool

The Arbys on southside in jacksonville still has the sauce.

#5 · n · 2006/11/01

The Buffalo heards are larger than at antime in the past 100 years. Good news!

#6 · Ames Tiedeman · 2006/11/02

So you're encouraging your readers to harass the poor, underpaid employees at Arby's? Are you mad, or should I say, do you ever plan to eat at that franchise again? Have you thought about what they might do to your sandwich next time you show your face there? I say, give up the junk, and join the healthy revolution. Your heart will thank you.

#7 · Health Junky · 2006/11/02

It's actually quite common for fast-food restaurants to run big advertising campaigns for specials that are available for a limited time. The Burger King Italian Chicken sandwich is an on-and-off affair; Taco Bell regularly rotates which combinations of its ten ingredients will be on the menu, and I still miss their long-gone veggie fajita burrito; Wendy's has a special sandwich or two on the menu that gets lots of advertising and is gone a month or two later. I never even heard of this Arby's special until this post.

#8 · Ted · 2006/11/06