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PODCAST

Double Dusted with Harley Morenstein

Harley Morenstein, Justin Lynch & Studio71

Double Dusted is a food comedy podcast that serves up candid and unfiltered takes on the culinary world and beyond. In a world where customers go off on fast food employees for missing condiments and TikTok kids eat NyQuil chicken, host Harley Morenstein, aka the Sauce Boss and co-creator of Epic Meal Time, is a voice of reason for the people. Join us every Monday for your dad’s favorite podcast. For advertising opportunities please email:PodcastPartnerships@Studio71us.com We wanna make the podcast

comedy food

All Episodes

62:55

Why Subway Abandoned the Cut That Made It Subway #191

Double Dusted with Harley Morenstein ·

2026/10/05

This week, Harley and Big Lynch autopsy the quietest deletion in sandwich history. For decades, Subway carved a trough into the top of the bread and cradled your sandwich inside it. Then, around 2000, the U-gouge quietly vanished, no announcement, no clean date, and over the next twenty-five years the standardization it hinted at took over everything. The boys trace it from a 17-year-old with a $1,000 loan from a nuclear physicist, to the 8% royalty machine that rewarded opening Subways next to

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72:52

How Taco Bell Lost $42 Million to a Cartoon Chihuahua...

Double Dusted with Harley Morenstein ·

2026/09/28

This week, Harley and Big Lynch are joined by Chef Atari for the tale of two dogs, a line taken from Taco Bell's own Supreme Court brief. In 1996, Michigan creators Tom Rinks and Joe Shields pitched Taco Bell a character called Psycho Chihuahua and spent nine months sending art, merch, and proposals at the company's request. Then Taco Bell's new ad agency pitched a chihuahua of its own. A Taco Bell staffer warned the company's lawyers the two dogs looked a little too similar, and they launched

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60:19

How Fiji Water Won the Status War and Lost the Crown...

Double Dusted with Harley Morenstein ·

2026/09/21

This week, Harley and Big Lynch autopsy Fiji Water: the square bottle that won the status-water war of the 2000s and then watched the culture move on. The boys trace it from Canadian millionaire David Gilmour drilling into a Fijian aquifer in 1996 and pricing the water above Evian on purpose, to the reported $50 million sale to the Resnicks, the Cleveland ad war that ended with arsenic found in Fiji's own bottle, the 2010 tax standoff where the company shut its plant and folded in 48 hours, and the

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57:56

Why Olive Garden's Bosses Got Fired Over Breadsticks...

Double Dusted with Harley Morenstein ·

2026/09/14

This week, Harley and Big Lynch autopsy the strangest coup in restaurant history. In 2014, hedge fund Starboard Value published a 294-slide deck roasting Olive Garden: 700 million breadsticks a year at three per guest, breadsticks that tasted like hot dog buns, a $42 million signage change, and pasta water left unsalted to protect a warranty on the pots. Darden management answered with 24 slides. So shareholders fired all twelve directors in what Forbes called the first total overthrow of an S&P 500

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81:41

Why Pizza Hut Got Sued for $1 Billion Over Stuffed...

Double Dusted with Harley Morenstein ·

2026/08/31

This week, Harley and Big Lynch are joined by Chef Atari to autopsy the most litigated crust in history. In 1987, Brooklyn cheesemaker Anthony "The Big Cheese" Mongiello patented stuffing the crust of a pizza with cheese and mailed it to Pizza Hut, who told him it was not a new concept. Seven years later, Pizza Hut launched Stuffed Crust with $45 million in ads and a Donald Trump commercial, and Mongiello sued for a billion dollars. The boys break down the competing origin stories, the patent

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72:30

How Big Food Engineered the Perfect Taste #186

Double Dusted with Harley Morenstein ·

2026/08/17

This week, Harley and Big Lynch go deep on stomach share and the Bliss Point. Lynch breaks down how a Harvard psychophysicist fixing army rations discovered the curve that maps exactly what tastes best, and what happened when the packaged food business got hold of it: 3,904 taste tests to build one Dr Pepper, a spaghetti sauce study that found three kinds of Americans, and $6,500 quietly paid to Harvard researchers in 1965 to point the blame at fat instead. The boys get into the 1999 meeting where

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54:58

Why Pepsi Won't Admit SoBe Is Dead #185

Double Dusted with Harley Morenstein ·

2026/08/10

This week, Harley and Big Lynch autopsy SoBe, the ghost brand nobody officially killed. The boys trace it from John Bello, Tom Schwam, and Kevin McGovern launching the South Beach Beverage Company in 1995, through the flop first shipment that had Bello putting his house up as collateral, to the ginseng and guarana pivot that made the lizard a gas station king. Then Coke backs out of a deal only for Pepsi to swoop in with a reported $370 million, and the money era begins: CGI lizards doing Thriller

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56:17

How Pizza Humbled the Fastest Restaurant on Earth #184

Double Dusted with Harley Morenstein ·

2026/08/03

This week, Harley and Big Lynch go deep on the McPizza: McDonald's decade-long war to win dinner from Pizza Hut. The boys trace it from the 1985 pizza-pocket prototype to the 145 pepperoni taste tests, the $950,000 custom rapid-cook ovens that still needed 11 minutes to serve a pie, the widened drive-thrus, the Howie Mandel commercials, and the full-size pies served on metal racks across Canada. Then the long death: 500 stores shrinking to two holdouts in Pomeroy, Ohio and Spencer, West Virginia,

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62:15

How Sizzler Went From Buffet Court to Bankruptcy...

Double Dusted with Harley Morenstein ·

2026/07/20

This week, Harley and Big Lynch autopsy Sizzler: the California steakhouse that sold a 99-cent steak dinner in 1958, grew to 733 restaurants, then invented an all-you-can-eat buffet court that swallowed the whole company. The boys break down the legendary 1991 "Choice of America" corporate video, the Sunday night in June 1996 when Sizzler closed 130 restaurants and cut 4,600 jobs before lunch, the E. coli outbreak that started at a salad bar, the $208 million private equity rescue, and the second

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68:08

How Denny's Killed the 3 AM Grand Slam #182

Double Dusted with Harley Morenstein ·

2026/07/13

This week, Harley and Big Lynch perform the autopsy on Denny's and the death of Always Open. The guys break down how a donut shop and someone's last $50 became America's 24-hour diner, the Christmas in 1988 when Denny's had to buy 700 locks because the doors had never closed, and the one October earnings call that killed 150 restaurants, half the menu, and the 24/7 rule before the whole thing sold for $620M to the owners of TGI Fridays. They react to a $1.99 Grand Slam commercial, rage about the

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57:42

How the Soda with Balls (Orbitz) Died in One Year #181

Double Dusted with Harley Morenstein ·

2026/07/06

This week, Harley and Big Lynch break down the hit 1991 soda Orbitz, Clearly Canadian's soda with balls: a drink so futuristic it had suspended orbs, a dedicated website, and every flavor except a good one. The boys cover the $155 million company that gambled on science and on balls in a bottle, the 85% sales faceplant, why the whole thing was secretly boba tea arriving a decade early, and the one flavor crime that Harley never forgave. Plus Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie, Marvel selling off

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52:39

How the Coolest Drink in America Became a $1.4...

Double Dusted with Harley Morenstein ·

2026/06/29

This week, Harley and Big Lynch break down how the coolest drink in America became the most expensive bottle of iced tea in business history. The boys trace Snapple from a Brooklyn health food store to a glass-bottle, fact-under-the-cap phenomenon, the private-equity operator who bought 70% for $140 million and walked away with $900 million, and Quaker Oats outbidding Coca-Cola to pay $1.7 billion at the absolute peak. Then comes the fatal mistake, running the Gatorade playbook on a brand that lived

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55:19

How Endless Shrimp Sank Red Lobster #179

Double Dusted with Harley Morenstein ·

2026/06/22

This week, Harley, Donnie, and Big Lynch break down how a $20 all-you-can-eat shrimp deal exposed the cracks in a 56-year-old icon and dragged Red Lobster into bankruptcy court. The boys trace it from founder Bill Darden to the $2.1 billion private-equity sale to Golden Gate, the sale-leaseback that gave away the land out from under the restaurants, and Thai Union, the shrimp supplier that also owned the company and allegedly steered Red Lobster into buying its shrimp at a premium. Then there's the

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96:45

How Subway’s $5 Footlong Became a Billion-Dollar...

Double Dusted with Harley Morenstein ·

2026/06/15

This week, Harley, Donnie, and Big Lynch break down how a single Subway franchisee accidentally invented the most famous deal in fast food history, and how that same $5 sandwich nearly broke the empire that sold it. The boys trace the footlong from a slow weekend at a Miami hospital Subway to a 27,000-store juggernaut, the jingle that's still stuck in your head, the $3.8 billion it raked in, the franchisee revolt over a price that didn't math, the "11-inch footlong" puffery lawsuit, and the $9.6

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50:27

How Tim Hortons Lost Canada (Then Tried to Buy It...

Double Dusted with Harley Morenstein ·

2026/06/08

This week, Harley and Big Lynch break down how Tim Hortons went from owning Canada (eight out of ten cups of coffee, double-doubles, Timbits, Roll Up the Rim) to getting branded anti-Canadian. The guys get into the hockey-player founder, the 2014 sale to the Burger King owners in Brazil, the "always fresh" par-bake reality, the franchise squeeze, and the temporary foreign worker firestorm that dragged Tims into Canada's youth unemployment rage. Plus: the fact sheet Tim Hortons dropped to defend

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73:51

How Wendy's Lost the Beef and 50% of Their Stock #176

Double Dusted with Harley Morenstein ·

2026/06/01

This week, Harley and Big Lynch break down how Wendy's spent decades trying to replace Dave Thomas and ended up posting their worst quarter in 20 years, with the stock down 50%, 600 stores closing, and CEO Kirk Tanner bailing to run a chocolate company. Big Lynch delivers a full PREsentation on the rise of Wendy's, Dave Thomas, the high-school dropout and Colonel Sanders protégé who founded the chain in 1969, the 1984 "Where's the Beef?" campaign that spiked sales 31%, the 800+ commercials that made

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72:07

Why McDonald's Was Sorry for Selling 100 Million...

Double Dusted with Harley Morenstein ·

2026/05/25

This week, Harley and Big Lynch break down how McDonald's accidentally caused the biggest fast food promotion disaster in history: selling 100 million Happy Meals in 10 days during the 1997 Teenie Beanie Baby craze and having to publicly apologize for it. Big Lynch delivers a full PREsentation on the history of the happy meal, the $1 billion 1996 Disney exclusive deal that nuked the toy arms race, and cover some of the other great fast food toy promotions. The boys discuss how 75% of family fast

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81:54

How Pizza Hut Abandoned the Red Roof and Lost Its...

Double Dusted with Harley Morenstein ·

2026/05/18

This week, Harley and Big Lynch break down the slow death of Pizza Hut and why Yum! Brands is now trying to offload them for $3.5 billion. Big Lynch delivers a full PREsentation on how a $600 loan from the Carney brothers' mom in 1958 turned into the world's #1 pizza chain before losing to Dominos. The boys reminisce about pebbled red cups, Tiffany lamps, X-Men VHS giveaways, Pizza Pete, the salad bar, the dessert pizza buffet, and Harley's grade 11 era of partying inside a closed Pizza Hut. They

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76:13

How Quiznos Lost 90% of Their Empire in 10 Years #173

Double Dusted with Harley Morenstein ·

2026/05/11

This week, Harley and Big Lynch break down the worst collapse in fast food history, Quiznos. From 4,700 stores at the 2007 peak down to 200 today, the boys unpack the Spongmonkey mascot disaster, the toaster ad nobody asked for, the senior VP sting, and the corporate "trap" that nickel-and-dimed franchisees out of business. Big Lynch delivers a full presentation, with Donnie listening from a canoe somewhere. Plus: meet Sardar "Big Larry" Biglari, the Steak N Shake CEO who calls himself Michelangelo,

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77:16

They Spent $200M to Invent This Chip. It Ruined...

Double Dusted with Harley Morenstein ·

2026/05/04

This week, Harley and Big Lynch let YouTube's AI pick the episode and dig into the $200 million chip disaster that gave America diarrhea. The boys break down Olestra, the Wow! chip launch of '98, and why "may cause anal leakage" was just printed on the bag like it was a nutrition fact. Then it's an update on Brian Niccol's $100M year at Starbucks, McDonald's launching dirty sodas with no fresh limes in sight, and the 17g protein menu push for the GLP-1 crowd. Plus: a Chinese restaurant in Louisiana

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193 results

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