By now, you’ve probably heard the story: A&W Restaurants once released a third-pound burger that didn’t catch on due to a misunderstanding of fractions.
How accurate is this tale of math mistakes and fraction flubs?
Let’s dive in and find out.
A&W’s Third-Pound Burger Campaign
In the 1980s, A&W Restaurants, led by then-owner A. Alfred Taubman, launched the “Third is the Word” campaign to promote their new third-pound burgers.
The goal was to compete with another brand’s smaller quarter-pound burger.
Taubman recounted this example in his book, Threshold Resistance.
“We were aggressively marketing a one-third-pound hamburger for the same price… but despite our best efforts, including first-rate TV and radio promotional spots, they just weren’t selling.”
The Big Math Mix-Up
Confused about why A&W’s burgers weren’t able to compete even though they were priced the same as their competitors, Taubman brought in a market research firm.
The firm eventually conducted a focus group to discover the truth: participants were concerned about the price of the burger.
“Why should we pay the same amount for a third of a pound of meat as we do for a quarter-pound of meat?” they asked.
The Fraction Fiasco Explained
It turns out the majority of participants incorrectly believed one-third of a pound was actually smaller than a quarter of a pound.
This misunderstanding stemmed from a basic math error.
Here’s a quick explanation to clear things up:
- A quarter-pound burger is 1/4 pound of meat.
- A third-pound burger is 1/3 pound of meat.
To compare these fractions, we need a common denominator.
The least common denominator for 4 and 3 is 12.
So:
- 1/4 is equivalent to 3/12.
- 1/3 is equivalent to 4/12.
Since 4/12 (one-third) is greater than 3/12 (one-quarter), a third-pound burger is indeed larger than a quarter-pound burger.
Despite this, many customers mistakenly thought they were getting less meat with the third-pound burger.
Lessons Learned
Despite the confusion, Taubman took an important lesson from the experience: “Sometimes the messages we send to our customers through marketing and sales information are not as clear and compelling as we think they are.”
This story highlights the importance of clear communication and understanding your audience.
Craving One of A&W’s Third-Pound Burgers?
Next time you see a third-pound burger on the menu, remember that you’re actually getting more meat than with a quarter-pound burger.
And if you’re craving one of A&W’s tasty third-pound burgers, now you know the full story behind it!
By understanding and communicating simple math correctly, A&W could have avoided this mix-up and potentially seen greater success with their third-pound burger.