Arby’s encourages throwing in the towel, Chipotle and Smoothie King provide motivation, Scooter’s Coffee sits on the fence
The new year is traditionally a time for fresh starts and optimism, hence the practice of making new year’s resolutions. But the hopes of becoming a better you seem to be facing a large amount of skepticism in 2025, at least at restaurants, whose operators know from experience how quickly their customers slide from salads to sundaes. In fact, most resolution-makers apparently give up really fast: In 2019, Strava, a fitness app and social network that tracks physical activity, released research that found that around 80% of resolution makers give up by the second week of January. Strava declared the second Friday of January Quitters Day, and this year a number of restaurant chains have taken the day to heart, some as cheerleaders, and others as enablers.
Big on the enablers side is Arby’s, which on Monday is launching a “New Year, Same You” menu at five of its more than 3,500 locations across the country, one each in Atlanta, Chicago, Cleveland, Las Vegas, and Miami.
The menu offers nothing new but falsified receipts: A Double Beef ’N Cheddar will be logged as “Salad with Dressing,” a Jamocha Shake will be a “Green Smoothie,” and Crinkle Fries will be marked as “Steamed Vegetables.” Order those items by their fake names, and the cashier will enter them as such and package the actual high-calorie items clandestinely, ideally allowing you to wrap yourself in a cloak of self-righteousness while remaining the same imperfect you who is, after all, doing your best.
Scooter’s Coffee, based in Omaha, Neb., is on the fence when it comes to Quitters Day, offering cinnamon rolls for half price, with the purchase of a drink, at its more than 800 locations for the day, but pitching it as an option to celebrate the little wins.
The chain did introduce a protein cold foam, with 13 grams of added protein, and more sugar-free options at the beginning of the year.
Smoothie King is playing the role of cheerleader for people’s fitness journeys with a new Resolution Menu that it’s launching on Quitters Day.
Priced at around $8.89 for 20-ounce smoothies, each is intended to match guests’ different goals:
The Metabolism Boost: made with pineapple, kiwi-apple juice blend, Gladiator vanilla protein, another protein blend, the chains Metabolism Boost Enhancer and its Fiber Blend Enhancer, is intended to support weight management
The Gladiator Chocolate: A proprietary blend of whey isolate, egg white powder, hydrolyzed whey concentrate, micellar casein, chocolate flavor, and other supplements that is designed as a muscle-building post-workout meal.
Pure Recharge Mango Strawberry: A smoothie of strawberries, mangoes, apple pineapple juice blend, Pure Recharge Enhancer, and an Electrolyte Blend is meant to improve energy and alertness
Vegan Mango Kale: Bananas, mangoes, kale, apple juice blend, apple pineapple juice blend, almonds, and vegan protein, is designed for those who want to increase their fruit and vegetable intake.
Power Meal Blueberry Raspberry: A smoothie of wild blueberries, raspberries, apple juice blend, almonds, vanilla Gladiator protein, another protein blend, and Multivitamin Enhancer, is under 350 calories and provides 20 grams of protein, seven grams of fiber, and 23 vitamins and minerals.
And Strava hasn’t given up on its mission. It’s redoubling its partnership with Chipotle, launched a year ago, offering “Chipotle segments” to its running courses and allowing people in 25 cities to compete to see who runs the most.
Additionally, since Jan. 2, guests have been able to visit chipotle.com/lsb-text to join the “Goals, Gym, Guac” text message community. On Jan. 10, those who signed up will be texted with details about how to get one of 50,000 free Lifestyle Bowls — a curated lineup targeting different diets, and throughout January, Chipotle will text those community members with motivational content.
Starting in 2023, Chipotle redubbed Quitters Day as No Quitters Day.
"It's well known that having an accountability buddy makes it easier to accomplish wellness goals," Chipotle’s vice president of brand marketing Stephanie Perdue, said in a statement. "We are showing up for our guests with our version of a group chat to make healthy habits fun on 'No Quitters Day.'"
Contact Bret Thorn at [email protected]
