Here’s a fun piece of Minnesota trivia – The Land of 10,000 Lakes was home to setting a pretty big, quirky world record – and somehow you probably didn’t even know it.
More specifically, the city of Duluth was the epicenter of this unique record. You might be wondering if it has something to do with life in the Northland. Perhaps most people in flannel gathered in one location? What about the biggest hot dish ever? Most lutefisk eaten in one sitting?
While it isn’t any of those, it is related to food – and TV.
Where was the quirky food-related TV world record broken in Minnesota?
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Back in 2014, I happened to be working a little bit on the side in a behind-the-scenes role at KBJR 6 Television in Duluth. I can remember hearing rumblings about something interesting being “cooked up” that was supposed to air on one of the channels in the building.
KBJR, the NBC affiliate in Duluth, has a suchannel called “My 9”, which is an affiliate of the MyNetworkTV – home to a bunch of syndicated programming that is mostly re-airings of shows like Law and Order and Dateline.
The channel is also the TV home to the UMD Bulldogs hockey team, some local high school sports, and in more recent years is also home to some programming from another network called “Heroes & Icons”.
The plan was to use this channel to air what would be the world’s longest TV commercial – a unique ad campaign from Arby’s.
When I say the world’s longest commercial, I’m not talking about a couple-hour-long paid program. No no, much longer than that.
The long commercial hit the airwaves on May 24, 2014, in Duluth and airing across the Northland, going on to set a Guinness World Record.
What was the commercial? How long was it?
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Arby’s had delivered – get this – a 13-hour-long commercial that did something clever during the lengthy runtime.
With a more precise runtime of 13 hours and 5 minutes, the video shows one of the smokers Arby’s uses for their brisket. Someone opens the door to the smoker, places a slab of brisket inside, and then closes the door.
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A timer starts once the meat is in the smoker, and then the next 13 hours shows the brisket slow-smoking. The idea is to show off that their brisket is actually slow-smoked with real smoke and real fire, like any good brisket should be.
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At the end of the video, someone pops the smoker door open, removes the brisket, puts the slab of meat on a cutting board, and the person makes a sandwich out of some of the sliced brisket.
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The video is still available on YouTube if you want to watch it for yourself.
Is this commercial still the world record for the longest TV commercial?
It stood as the world record for a little over four years, but it was sadly beaten by a commercial that aired in Brazil in 2018. So, while it might no longer be a world record, it still stands (as far as I can tell) as the longest TV commercial to have ever aired in the United States.
The new record was a whole hour longer, set by Proctor & Gamble with a commercial that aired promoting Old Spice deodorant in Sau Paulo, Brazil on December 8, 2018.
The idea behind this commercial is that it “lasts as long as the new Old Spice amazing fragrance” they were promoting at the time. The idea is that it basically just keeps going on and on as a loop.
Here’s the concept:
They referred to it basically endless, as a commercial inside a commercial inside a commercial, etc.
Woof. I could maybe find a way to justify leaving the smoking brisket video on for a chunk of time. The commercial inside a commercial concept would get annoying in a hurry trying to watch it.