Norway's 8-hour TV program that featured nothing but wood burning is amateur hour compared to this: a 13-hour, 5 minute, 11-second commercial of brisket smoking. That spot, which aired Saturday, has set a Guinness World Record (the former record-holding commercial, by Nivea, was a measly hour), and the honor goes to none other than Arby's. The fast-food chain created the half-day commercial as a promo for its Smokehouse Brisket Sandwich, a limited edition offering that Fox News reports is packed with BBQ sauce, fried onions, smoked gouda, and brisket that has been smoked for, you guessed it, 13 hours.
The must-see TV was dialogue-free, reports the New York Times, and filming it was not without its drama. The goal was to shoot it in a single take, and the first two efforts at doing so flopped, due to too much smoke and a burnt-out light bulb. The commercial aired at 1pm Saturday on My9, a station in Duluth, Minn., and wrapped up at 2am Sunday with quite the climax: The previously shut door to the smoker opened, the brisket was removed, and the sandwich was made. Why Duluth? The town's News Tribune asked that, and got a sort-of answer from a rep for the company, which says a commercial of that length "required that we cast a pretty wide net. There were very few folks who could do this the right way, and we had the most confidence in working with My9." The commercial then aired a single time online, and will next head to YouTube. (Another Guinness Record was set this week.)