# Who's really eating these Monster Thickburgers? Is it buff young studs with sixpacks? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 20, 2006, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-really-eating-these-monster-thickburgers-is-it-buff-young-studs-with-sixpacks/373404 "2006-09-20T12:57:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2006, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-really-eating-these-monster-thickburgers-is-it-buff-young-studs-with-sixpacks/373404/1 "2006-09-20T12:57:33Z")
[Which is certainly what Hardee’s wants us to believe.](http://www.businessweek.com/innovate/content/jun2006/id20060629_133435.htm) Is this really a “hungry young man” sandwich? Who is \*really \* eating these things? [It’s a mass of meat](http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6498304/) > [@](#): > > Two years ago, just as all sorts of fast-food restaurants were adding salads and healthier items to their menus, Andrew F. Puzder went in the opposite direction. The chief executive of CKE Restaurants (CKR), which owns the Hardee’s and Carl’s Jr. restaurant chains, bet that what his customers really wanted were even bigger, juicier, and better-tasting burgers. Super size? Try monster size. He introduced a 1,400-calorie burger called the 1-lb Double Six Dollar Burger for $5.49 and followed that up with a series of artery-clogging sandwiches. > [@](#): > > Hardee’s gift to consumers fed up with “healthier” and “low-fat” menu items is a line of sandwiches called Thickburgers, introduced in 2004. The Monster Thickburger, which debuted in November, 2004, is made of two one-third-pound slabs of Angus beef, four strips of bacon, three slices of cheese, and mayonnaise on a buttered sesame seed bun and is trumpeted as “a monument to decadence.” Even today, the tribute to indulgence at Hardee’s marches on. Its latest addition? A burger with “meat as a condiment.” The Philly Cheesesteak Thickburger features a one-third-pound Thickburger patty topped with sliced steak, cheese, green peppers, and onions. > [@](#): > > CHEESECAKE, TOO. The advertising isn’t shy either. For instance, Hardee’s has thrived on luring young men into its restaurants by using suggestive ads, the most famous of which showed the socialite Paris Hilton in a swimsuit soaping down a Bentley and taking a bite out of a hamburger. “You can see young men say, that’s the brand for me,” says Jeffrey Davis, president of restaurant researcher Sandelman & Associates. “These young men have big appetites and are certainly not dieters.” ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2006, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-really-eating-these-monster-thickburgers-is-it-buff-young-studs-with-sixpacks/373404/2 "2006-09-20T12:58:38Z")
This was supposed to be in Cafe - Would a mod please move. ---
**Author:** ![slortar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6bbea6/32.png) [@slortar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slortar)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2006, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-really-eating-these-monster-thickburgers-is-it-buff-young-studs-with-sixpacks/373404/3 "2006-09-20T13:15:59Z")
Oh, sure. I’ve seen a lot of buff young studs eating really awful junk food. It’s just that they tend to grow up into fat blobs. ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2006, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-really-eating-these-monster-thickburgers-is-it-buff-young-studs-with-sixpacks/373404/4 "2006-09-20T14:13:32Z")
I agree, hungry young athletic active men can eat a whole heaping amount of garbage and not get fat. When I was in college, and actively exercising, I could eat a pint of Ben and Jerry’s icecream in a sitting, eat pizza, hamburgers, chips, and all sorts of garbage, without going over 155 pounds. Fast forward 15 years, eating like that would send me over 255 pounds. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2006, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-really-eating-these-monster-thickburgers-is-it-buff-young-studs-with-sixpacks/373404/5 "2006-09-20T14:20:24Z")
[QUOTE=astro] Who’s really eating these Monster Thickburgers? Is it buff young studs with sixpacks? [/QUOTE] Only in the “before” picture… ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2006, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-really-eating-these-monster-thickburgers-is-it-buff-young-studs-with-sixpacks/373404/6 "2006-09-20T14:33:59Z")
[QUOTE=astro] Who is \*really \* eating these things? [/quote] Overweight blobs who have a sincere belief that they can be buff young studs (they’ll start on the exercise program right after the gigant-o-shake and the enormo fries). 😛 ---
**Author:** ![August\_West](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/august_west/32/18069_2.png) [@August\_West](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/August_West)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2006, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-really-eating-these-monster-thickburgers-is-it-buff-young-studs-with-sixpacks/373404/7 "2006-09-20T15:49:16Z")
Ahh, I remember the introduction of the Monster Burger. I was a buff young male bartender (no really I was!) and I wandered across the street to Hardee’s and brought my lunch back to the bar. It was TWO Monster burgers and a large curly fries. Several people at the bar expressed shock that i ate that much. It didn’t even occur to me that this was a massive amount of food and the equivalent of about 9 days of the RDA of fat. But back then I rode my bike all over town and had rugby practice every afternoon. Now, I couldn’t eat that much, and if I did it would just add to my middle. ---
**Author:** ![Sunrazor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sunrazor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunrazor)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2006, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-really-eating-these-monster-thickburgers-is-it-buff-young-studs-with-sixpacks/373404/8 "2006-09-20T15:55:02Z")
Yeah, when they see that ad, all those truck drivers, desk jockeys and sit-on-their-ass-heavy-equipment-operstors tell themselves, “Gosh, guess that’s not for me, 'cuz I already have a gut the size of Montana!” Because the ads clearly communicate to us that these sandwiches are only for people with high metabolism rates or who work so hard they need 12,000 calories a day. (Slight hijack: D’ya think the slob in the yellow shirt who won over a half-mil on “Deal or No Deal” Monday night went out and celebrated with a nice poached salmon, veggies and fresh fruit? Yeah, me either. I’ll bet he headed for Hardee’s.) ---
**Author:** ![Cluricaun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bb73d2/32.png) [@Cluricaun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cluricaun)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2006, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-really-eating-these-monster-thickburgers-is-it-buff-young-studs-with-sixpacks/373404/9 "2006-09-20T16:30:39Z")
Has anyone else read the book Red Meat Cures Cancer by Starbuck O’Dwyer? This thing sounds oddly like the Tailburger in that story. ---
**Author:** ![ddgryphon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/8c91f0/32.png) [@ddgryphon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ddgryphon)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2006, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-really-eating-these-monster-thickburgers-is-it-buff-young-studs-with-sixpacks/373404/10 "2006-09-20T17:18:24Z")
Fat guys with no hope of ever being anything other than fat guys like me. I eat many vegetarian meals (in fact my lunch and dinner today consists mainly of fresh vegetables)-- because I like them, but I am 5’ 11" and weigh 285 lbs and have for years now (though I’ve recently discovered I have a thyroid problem which is likely contributing to my bulk). How often do I eat these deathburgers? Once, maybe twice a month. Do I eat the fries? No. Do I drink a pop or milkshake with them? No. why? because a burger like that is a meal – all by itself with lettuce, tomato, onion, and pickles (Here’s a hint, there’s no reason to put those wretched condiments on it–they do nothing to enhance the flavor of a burger like this). I drink unsweetened tea with it. I find it fascinating that we can sit here and discuss fat, unattractive people as if they all have a say in their appearance (they don’t, in fact many don’t, or lack the education to understand how). Let’s mock them, their dull stupidity, and enourmous guts. But if we were to have a similar conversation about Blacks and certain southern fruits and fried products, we’d all be somehow more bigoted than when we are doing the same thing to an overweight crowd. Start with the doper in the mirror. ---
**Author:** ![RikWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/49beb7/32.png) [@RikWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RikWriter)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2006, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-really-eating-these-monster-thickburgers-is-it-buff-young-studs-with-sixpacks/373404/11 "2006-09-20T17:32:55Z")
I tried eating one of those ThickBurgers once…just once. I almost puked, it was just too much damn food to eat for lunch, and definitely too much grease. As for the whole “people can’t help how they look” thing…yes, in the majority of cases, they can indeed. They just don’t. It’s easier to say “I’ll never lose weight” than to do the extremely hard work to make it happen. ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2006, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-really-eating-these-monster-thickburgers-is-it-buff-young-studs-with-sixpacks/373404/12 "2006-09-20T17:55:44Z")
Yeah I don’t like them either. Rarely do I crave that much ground beef, and about halfway through it’s getting sickening. Plus most of the combos on their menu are $6 and up. Geez. ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2006, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-really-eating-these-monster-thickburgers-is-it-buff-young-studs-with-sixpacks/373404/13 "2006-09-20T17:56:10Z")
As delicious as they look, there’s no way I could really eat one of those. Even a standard combo meal is generally too much. ---
**Author:** ![romansperson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/romansperson/32/17100_2.png) [@romansperson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/romansperson)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2006, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-really-eating-these-monster-thickburgers-is-it-buff-young-studs-with-sixpacks/373404/14 "2006-09-20T18:11:50Z")
I’ve not tried to eat a Monster Thickburger, but I bet if I was really hungry I could put one away. I do like the 1/3 lb. Bacon Cheesburger an awful lot, though I don’t eat them often. I don’t get fries or anything else, just the burger. I’m a 5’3", 120 lb. woman, FWIW. I’m sure my husband could eat one quite easily, and probably has. The man can eat an amazing amount of food and not gain weight, too (he’s 51, btw). Bastard. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2006, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-really-eating-these-monster-thickburgers-is-it-buff-young-studs-with-sixpacks/373404/15 "2006-09-20T18:18:50Z")
I don’t know how he does it, but my boyfriend loves to put those things away. He’s not overweight, but he’s got a little bitty layer of pudge on the middle. I just don’t see how it’s even _possible_ to eat the thing. He rarely gets the Monster one - often he just gets two regular Thickburgers. I think that’s, like, 40 Weight Watchers points before the fries and the drink. ---
**Author:** ![Sunrazor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sunrazor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunrazor)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2006, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-really-eating-these-monster-thickburgers-is-it-buff-young-studs-with-sixpacks/373404/16 "2006-09-20T19:59:54Z")
[QUOTE=ddgryphon] Fat guys with no hope of ever being anything other than fat guys like me. I eat many vegetarian meals (in fact my lunch and dinner today consists mainly of fresh vegetables)-- because I like them, but I am 5’ 11" and weigh 285 lbs and have for years now (though I’ve recently discovered I have a thyroid problem which is likely contributing to my bulk). (snip) Start with the doper in the mirror. [/QUOTE] I did, dude. I’m an inch taller than you and a year ago weighed 285. I got tired of sitting on the floor at Target digging out 46" pants. I tried “diets,” none of ‘em worked. My wife finally dragged me to Weight Watchers (Yeah, that’s right, I count points. Wanna’ make something of it?) That was last January. I’m at 42". under 265 and falling. I hope to hit somewhere between 38" and 40" before Christmas. Get the thyroid fixed, **ddgryphon** , so you can regain control of your body. You owe it to yourself, and you owe it to the rest of us. You’re an intelligent, articulate and probably well-educated man. You are an asset to this world. It would be a shame if we were to lose you to heart disease, diabetes or stroke before you’ve had a chance to make your impact on the world. I’m not skinny, by any stretch of the imagination, but I’m back in control, and I’m staying that way. If you really are in great health, if you go to your doctor for a checkup and he says, “Hey, your weight is fine,” then I’m obviously full of crap. ---
**Author:** ![mrklutz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ebca7d/32.png) [@mrklutz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mrklutz)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2006, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-really-eating-these-monster-thickburgers-is-it-buff-young-studs-with-sixpacks/373404/17 "2006-09-20T20:11:44Z")
If they’d had the Monster Thickburger when I was in high school and college, I’d have eaten it. I had a monstrous metabolism back then – my usual burger was a Wendy’s triple with bacon and cheese, with fries and a frosty. I weighed a whopping 140 at 5’10". Now? No way. I can’t eat like that any more, and it would be really bad for me if I could. ---
**Author:** ![Jake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f475e1/32.png) [@Jake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jake)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2006, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-really-eating-these-monster-thickburgers-is-it-buff-young-studs-with-sixpacks/373404/18 "2006-09-20T21:34:26Z")
[QUOTE=ddgryphon] Fat guys with no hope of ever being anything other than fat guys like me. I eat many vegetarian meals (in fact my lunch and dinner today consists mainly of fresh vegetables)-- because I like them, but I am 5’ 11" and weigh 285 lbs and have for years now (though I’ve recently discovered I have a thyroid problem which is likely contributing to my bulk). How often do I eat these deathburgers? Once, maybe twice a month. Do I eat the fries? No. Do I drink a pop or milkshake with them? No. why? because a burger like that is a meal – all by itself with lettuce, tomato, onion, and pickles (Here’s a hint, there’s no reason to put those wretched condiments on it–they do nothing to enhance the flavor of a burger like this). I drink unsweetened tea with it. I find it fascinating that we can sit here and discuss fat, unattractive people as if they all have a say in their appearance (they don’t, in fact many don’t, or lack the education to understand how). Let’s mock them, their dull stupidity, and enourmous guts. But if we were to have a similar conversation about Blacks and certain southern fruits and fried products, we’d all be somehow more bigoted than when we are doing the same thing to an overweight crowd. Start with the doper in the mirror. [/QUOTE] + Gotta agree. I’m a chubby but don’t much care. As you get older and lose a lot of your sex drive you’ll find that body size dosen’t matter as much. Health of course is an exception. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2006, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-really-eating-these-monster-thickburgers-is-it-buff-young-studs-with-sixpacks/373404/19 "2006-09-21T00:32:39Z")
[QUOTE=Jake] + Gotta agree. I’m a chubby but don’t much care. As you get older and lose a lot of your sex drive you’ll find that body size dosen’t matter as much. Health of course is an exception. [/QUOTE] I’m 48, and you’d be surprised how much of your sex drive comes roaring back like a locomotive when you’re in shape. ---
**Author:** ![RikWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/49beb7/32.png) [@RikWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RikWriter)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2006, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-really-eating-these-monster-thickburgers-is-it-buff-young-studs-with-sixpacks/373404/20 "2006-09-21T00:45:48Z")
[QUOTE=Jake] + Gotta agree. I’m a chubby but don’t much care. As you get older and lose a lot of your sex drive you’ll find that body size dosen’t matter as much. Health of course is an exception. [/QUOTE] How old is “older” to you? I know guys in their 60s who are still in great shape. Haven’t asked about their sex life, I gotta admit… [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-really-eating-these-monster-thickburgers-is-it-buff-young-studs-with-sixpacks/373404.md?page=2)