This Hilarious Arby's Parody Account Will Have You Questioning Everything
Arby's, the iconic roast beef sandwich joint, has been around since July 1964, when brothers Forrest ("Fuzzy") and Leroy Raffel opened their first shop in Boardman, Ohio. The name Arby's is a play on the phonetic pronunciation of the acronym RB, which stands for "Raffel Brothers," not "roast beef," contrary to popular belief. Since its founding, the fast-food chain has sold more than five billion classic roast beef sandwiches to hungry customers across the globe (per Mental Floss). Yeah, that's a lot of roast beef.
It's clear that a lot of people really love "the meats." And in the wild world of social media, many users feel inclined to (over)share their food experiences, no matter the fare. There's one Arby's fan page — if you want to call it that, anyway — that parodies the brand's modern marketing messaging. The @nihilist_arbys Twitter account launched on January 14, 2015 and gained more than 50,000 followers within the first three months. Today, the account boasts nearly 400,000 followers and a feed filled with hilariously bleak tweets that always end with an ironic plug to enjoy Arby's. So, who is the jokester who runs the darkly comical parody account?
The mind behind Nihilist Arby's is an advertising copywriter and musician
The masked nihilist (someone who believes that life is meaningless and thereby rejects all religious and moral principles) is a man by the name of Brendan Kelly. For those of you who are in tune with the punk rock music scene, you may recognize him as the vocalist and bassist for the Chicago-based band The Lawrence Arms. Kelly is also a blogger and an advertising copywriter, penning content for brands across media. A known funny guy, he thought it would be funny if a restaurant chain's social media manager "just lost it after sending out yet another tweet about something like a new dipping sauce. And I said to whoever I was speaking to at the time, 'It should be called something incredibly stupid like Nihilist Arby's,'" he told Adweek. A genius concept, indeed.
Some of the account's sharp-witted, pessimistic tweets include, "The world will end. You'll die. So will everyone you've ever known. Why do you care about what's bumming you out right now? Nothing matters. Please continue to enjoy Arby's" and "Why did you buy all that toilet paper if you're not even coming to Arby's? Please enjoy Arby's."
When the Nihilist Arby's Twitter was hacked back in 2018, the real brand came to the rescue and contacted their own Twitter representative to resolve the issue. And in 2015, shortly after the account launched, Arby's employees showed up at his office with complimentary sandwiches and a therapy puppy, according to PR Week.