When the Browns lose, push the fat.
When the Buckeyes win, push the salad.After fans’ favorite football team lost, the fans craved comfort foods–specifically, saturated fats and high-caloric foods.
No doubt about it. Many of us have found backup teams to root for that actually win from time to time, while waiting out the return of Browns glory. Incredibly, their lack of success may be affecting the fans more than we may have realized.A fascinating study came out this week that should have implications for our restaurant clients (and Browns fans’ waistlines):
Researchers found that after fans’ favorite football team lost, the fans craved comfort foods–specifically, saturated fats and high-caloric foods.
The researchers surveyed thousands of football fans and found that saturated-fat consumption went up by 16 percent after a defeat, but down 9 percent after a win.
Calorie consumption went up by 10 percent after losses, and down by 5 percent after wins. In cities with a particularly strong football culture, like Cleveland, the numbers were almost twice as high.
What’s interesting is that it wasn’t just on game day that the fans craved better or worse-for-them foods. It carried over to the next day, as well.
It stands to reason that if you run a restaurant, you should push the fried chicken after a loss – and salads after a win. Since the effect wears off within a day or so, be prepared for either contingency, but push one or the other to the top of the daily specials and make sure your wait staff are recommending the appropriate choices for each scenario.
The study focussed on professional football, but we believe the same to be true for college football. Especially in cities like Columbus, where we are so identified with The Ohio State Buckeyes. The day after a Buckeye loss is a dark day indeed, and we could all use a little comfort. Fortunately, that doesn’t happen that often, so we get to reach for salad, instead.
Unless of course, we are also Browns fans and our Sundays are ruined for anything healthy by mid-afternoon. Hand me that deep-fried goodness. Stat!