Gen Z Isn’t Hungry for Arby’s

Only 25% of Arby’s customers are between 18-34 (MRI Simmons). Unfortunately, this consumer demographic has led younger consumers to see Arby’s as a brand for older people, and not for them. This puts Arby’s at risk as older consumers are less likely to be frequent fast food consumers compared younger generations.

→ 40% of Boomers are frequent fast food customers, while 60% of Gen Z are frequent fast food consumers.

“Let’s do a girl with meat hands”

— creative team

“That’s awesome.”

— me

The initial idea was to create an industry plant for reality TV, but research revealed a better way in.

With 71% of Gen Z and Millennials say social media drives their restaurant choices, and category leaders finding success through social-first strategies, we knew social media was the clear answer for making the biggest (and most cost-efficient) impact.

We conducted an analysis of the category and consumer, exploring how and why Gen Z connects with brands and creators on social media. Our research spanned human sociology, psychology, and content strategy, including social listening, qualitative research, and MRI-Simmons data.

Cultural Trend: Gen Z connects strongly with influencers and other personalities on social media, forming "parasocial relationships"*

*A parasocial relationship is a one-sided psychological bond where a person invests emotional energy, interest, and time into a media figure who is unaware of their existence.

Parasocial relationships with influencers are explained by the way humans bond over shared customs, rituals, and emotions like humor.

Interestingly, we’ve seen this phenomenon carry over into the world of brand characters.

We Have the Plant!

Playing on Gen Z’s obsession with influencer culture and parasocial relationships, we decided to create and plant a meat-obsessed influencer who slowly becomes an Arby’s brand character.

Meet Meat Girl!

Meat Girl, an absurd but loveable meat-obsessed content creator, came to life through a homemade steak oven mitt and a chaotically curated social strategy.

Beyond the concept, we cast the PERFECT Meat Girl, her dog Curly, and boyfriend Kale to produce original content and test our approach in real time.

Her rise (and Arby’s eventual payoff) follows this deliberate “secret” formula:

Phase 1: Introducing Meat Girl - 6 Months

Meat Girl posts consistently, analyzes performance, and engages with her audience like a true creator to build authentic traction and community.

We analyzed views, shares, saves, and interactions to make sure her content was reaching the right consumers and resonating with them.

Phase 2: Arby’s “Discovers” Her

Arby’s sends PR packages, then officially “signs” Meat Girl as a full-time brand ambassador once cultural momentum builds.

Then they send her to the World's Largest Arby's!

Phase 3: Meat Girl Takes Over

The brand rolls out Meat Girl inspired in-store features and a limited merch drop, giving fans a tangible way to express their love for both MG and Arby’s.

Arby’s already has an extensive merch selection, so the Meat Girl line is a natural addition.

Arby’s expands the universe with short-form narrative content starring Meat Girl, spoofing popular reality TV formats to deepen the fandom and boost shareability.

Gen Z loves Meat Girl!

The coolest part about producing and posting content in real time was being able to immediately see the results. Within a week, Meat Girl blew up!

First 30 days performance:

of “Meat My Water” video

50k views

of MG’s Instagram profile

92k views

90% 18-34 yo

Instagram audience

1.5k+ shares

of “Meat My Water” video

Arby’s too!

Before we posted branded content, tagged, or followed Arby’s, the brand organically found and contacted Meat Girl to send her merch for her next OOTD - a testament to MG’s alignment with the brand and proof of concept.

In a world of algorithm-curated feeds and easily ignored ads,

Meat Girl disrupts the status quo.

That’s how she broke through the scroll.

The Meat of the Matter

Beyond short-term revenue gain from the Meat Girl Menu and merchandise sales, Project Meat Girl helps Arby’s through:

Audience Expansion

Attracts Gen Z and Millennial diners who might not have considered Arby’s before.

Relevance & Brand Equity

Positions Arby’s as unexpected, self-aware, and shareable in social culture.

Ownable IP

“Meat Girl” becomes a flexible brand asset for future campaigns, collabs, or seasonal menus.

A Reflection

When our team first floated the idea by our professors, they were skeptical. But we had faith in Meat Girl and who she could become.

As we started to post IRL, one of our professors posed the question: “What if Arby’s actually found this?”

I thought he was crazy.

My goal for this project (and in my career) was to do something out of the box and fun, but also super smart and grounded in strategy. And I figured it would be cool if Arby’s somehow saw it.

Waking up the morning before our final presentation to a DM from Arby’s saying they noticed Meat Girl shocked me. And let me know this project hit every goal we set.

I learned that bold risks are most effective when they’re rooted in the brand’s personality and that social can be a powerful tool, especially when you bring something unique to the table.

Follow along with Meat Girl here: Meat Girl (@realmeatgirl)

The team:

Caroline Thomas - Strategist

Jennifer Kim - Art Director

Maddie Green - Art Director

Greg Patterson - Copywriter

My Role:

Strategy Partnership

Led cultural and audience research, including parasocial relationship and brand-character analysis, to inform strategy and guide the development of Meat Girl’s narrative and content approach.

Production

I managed the day-to-day team operations, coordinating shoots, schedules, meetings, and the content calendar while keeping team members aligned.

Social Media Management

I oversaw Meat Girl’s social channels and reviewed all creative to ensure every execution stayed consistent with Arby’s brand voice, the character strategy, and our campaign objective.