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In-N-Out Vs. Whataburger
January 18, 2023
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California-based fast-food chain In-N-Out announced last week that it would be expanding into Tennessee. How does this impact me? Well, first of all, I just moved back to Nashville, and secondly, everybody I know sent me a link to the story when it came out, as if In-N-Out was the greatest thing to ever come to Tennessee. I’m not joking, EVERYONE I know sent this story to me. Starting with All Access’ Country Editor Jeff Lynn. When he forwarded me the story about In-N-Out coming to Nashville, he was so excited. Then both Joel Denver and Nashville Bureau Chief for All Access, Phyllis Stark even sent both Jeff and I a link to the story saying we had moved to Nashville at the perfect time.
Now, I am well aware of West Coasters (and those who have lived on the West Coast) and their passion for In-N-Out burgers. I lived on the West Coast for nearly 20 years. But I am from the South, and I never felt like In-N-Out burgers were better than Whataburger’s.
Whataburger is a fast-food chain, founded in Corpus Christi, TX, that now has locations all over Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, and the Southern United States. So needless to say, I grew up on Whataburger, and I feel just as passionately about Whataburger as West Coasters feel about In-N-Out. I’ve sat through more than a decade of debates over which was best. When Jeff sent me the story, I asked him if he had ever had Whataburger. He told me he had just recently had one in Nashville and it tasted like a “mustard sandwich.” He was not impressed.
That surprised me a great deal because Whataburger’s Superstar Cheeseburger has never let me down. They are so good (with their tiny little chopped onions), it was worth having a layover in the Houston airport any time I had to fly anywhere, just so I could go to Whataburger there and get my cheeseburger. Also, they have the best fries, and their own “fancy” and “spicy” ketchup (they sell that sh*t in a bottle). But I digress. Anyway, Jeff said he’d give it another shot.
But here’s the thing, I would almost argue that pre-pandemic, Sonic Cheeseburgers, Wendy’s Cheeseburgers, and Krystal Cheeseburgers (another Southern chain), would also give In-N-Out burgers a run for the money. The truth is, ever since the lock down, when we were forced to have everything delivered because of America’s obsession with junk food, or we were too lazy to cook, customer service and food prep at fast food chains went to sh*t. Even at Whataburger and In-N-Out. Nothing tastes the way it looks on TV or the way it used to taste before food chain shortages, and over and under qualified people were forced to take on jobs at fast food restaurants because there was no other way to pay bills at the time. And sadly, it hasn’t bounced back. We’re still ordering burgers, but asking ourselves “Where’s the beef?” The food is still less than desirable, and the customer service is nonexistent, everywhere!
I liken this to the impact that corporate radio has had on the industry in general (Yes, I am comparing corporate radio to Covid-19). Like the fast-food business, radio is largely dependent upon quality (of content), and customer service. Since there are only a few radio companies out there, who have bitten off more than they can chew when it comes to the number of stations they can own in the U.S. (or in a one market), the few employees they can afford to keep do not have the time to actually do their jobs, and the on air content (and digital) is generic, boring, and most likely being pre-recorded (or posted) in a market that is not even remotely local to the actual station. This is bad radio, and we sit back and scratch our heads and wonder why we are losing to so many other platforms.
And it’s not getting any better for radio either. Corporations aren’t investing more in their brands and employees to improve ratings and revenue. Instead, they are doing everything they can to cut costs and streamline everything from actual brands, to music, right down to employees and air talent. Anything they can do to save their companies from Bankruptcy.
It’s a slippery slope we thought would improve after the height of the pandemic, but unfortunately radio leaders made bad decisions, mostly based on ego, power, and the need to protect their own pay checks and bonuses while cutting salaries, commissions, bonuses, and in general, pay checks, when it came to the soldiers and front liners of their companies.
That makes it impossible to provide unique quality content and great customer service to loyal listeners. It’s the difference between live and local radio, and a market full of radio stations that all sound alike because they are owned by one big giant company. Twice in the last two months I have driven nine hours back and forth from Nashville to my parents’ house in Eunice, Louisiana, listening to radio the entire time, searching for something different. But all I found were a bunch of stations owned by two of the three biggest radio companies in the country, and they all bored me to tears. They all sounded alike so I switched to YouTube so I could listen to standup comedy so I wouldn’t fall asleep on the drive.
This is what concerns me about the expansion of not only In-N-Out burger, but the already expanded Whataburger which now owns over 820 locations in the U.S. and generates about $2.7 Billion in revenue (In-N-Out is currently reporting about $1 Billion). This is my excuse for why I think Jeff didn’t like his burger. Because like radio, they have expanded into too many territories, and spread their people thin, which has obviously had an impact on their burgers and service. And I already felt like that about In-N-Out when I lived on the West Coast.
I’m not sure there is a real point to this column except that the “In-N-Out vs. Whataburger” debate is such a good one, and is actually good content (until it’s not anymore), as opposed to the “no brainer” debate of “live and local radio vs. generic corporate carbon copy radio.” For the most part, live and local will always win, and generic corporate radio is just simply a waste of time for the already overworked, underpaid, few people left in charge.
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