The burger wars continue. In October 2024, one of In-N-Out’s biggest rivals placed several tongue-in-cheek billboards around Southern California “congratulating” In-N-Out for being named the second-best fast food burger in a USA Today reader poll. That same rival chain is at it once more, this time poking fun at the cult-favorite burger restaurant for falling out of second place to the No. 4 spot in this year’s rankings.
The billboards that Habit Burger & Grill erected last fall read, “Congrats on #2, In-N-Out.” This year, the fast food restaurant edited the billboard next to the iconic drive-thru near Los Angeles International Airport by crossing out “#2” in red and replacing it with “#4,” according to a news release. The brand also made sure to use the Sharpie-style font to add that it had been named No. 1. Again.
“We congratulated In-N-Out on being #2 last year with a billboard,” Jack Hinchliffe, chief marketing officer at Habit Burger & Grill, said in the news release. “This year, we were going to send a gift but couldn’t afford the postage to Tennessee, so we saved a few bucks and reused the same billboard. We just had to swap out the 2 for a 4.”
The lighthearted stunt came about after the results of this summer’s USA Today reader polls were released. Habit Burger & Grill remained in the top slot, while In-N-Out fell to fourth place, behind A&W and Jack in the Box…