Sometimes advertisers seem to make ludicrous claims.
Here’s exhibit #1:
The biggest 12-ounce steak? Isn’t a big 12-ounce steak the same size as a small 12-ounce steak?
Maybe yes, maybe no. Perusing Outback’s website actually provides a shocking additional fact about their largest 12-ounce steak claim.
*MOUSE PRINT:
What? Outback’s 12-ounce steak can actually be 11 ounces? Apparently so. At some locations, the largest sirloin steak that Outback carries is only 11 ounces.
I guess this is almost like Subway’s foot-long sandwiches being only 11 inches occasionally.
Eleven must be the new 12 in the restaurant industry.
“Big” usually refers to size (volume), while ounce is a measure of either weight or mass (just which one is apparently debatable). So one 12-ounce steak could be bigger than another by spreading the same mass over a larger volume — in other words, by being less dense. Because fat is generally less dense than muscle, this suggests that the “biggest” cut should have the most fat.
As Edgar noted: “Eleven must be the new 12 in the restaurant industry.”
Let’s hope this isn’t true when it comes to buying a dozen eggs in the future!
What I found most “amusing” about this gimmick is that Outback’s 11 oz. disclosure is in a footnote to the footnote.
I think what they meant to say is “Our BIGGEST, the 12oz sirloin”.
Edgar replies: Good try, Peter, but they actually have other steak cuts that are larger.
They aren’t even trying. At least they didn’t name it ambiguously with something like “big” steak and decided to sell consumers anywhere in the range of 8-12 oz. which would likely skew on the 8 oz. side.
I find it very interesting that no one seems to have been able to get this special, including myself, nobody at the restaurant even knew what we were talking about yet it was advertised on TV the same day. According to the Facebook page it appears everyone had the same problem, seems like bait and switch/false advertisement.
This doesn’t surprise me. Lately I think the Outback is being deliberately ambiguous in its advertising and even its menu wording. You have to be very careful as some of the specials come with a 5 oz. steak instead of a 6 oz. one and it’s not even the same cut – I can tell from looking at it. They were playing games with the Outback Special for a while giving you 2 sides at dinner but only one at lunch at the same price. Now they have done away with the Outback Special altogether. I don’t trust them anymore. Every time I go there the menu is different and you really have to pay attention to what you get for the money.