The former President of Subway’s Franchisee Advertising Fund Trust once said:

Some people think Test & Learn is a lot of nerdy analysis.  I think just the opposite – Test & Learn helps us to be maximally creative and risk taking.

It’s that attitude that identified Subway’s $5 Footlong (from among many tested ideas) and turned it into a massive nationwide success.  Hopefully, that’s the attitude Burger King is taking to its new rib offering, and its high-end offerings in general.

We don’t know if $7 to $9 ribs are going to successfully steal share from casual dining.  Conversely, we don’t know if ribs will confuse the customer as BK tries to compete at $1 and $5 price points.  But neither do industry analysts, despite their pronouncements.

Burger King, on the other hand, can know the answer, because they are testing it.  If they have the right analytics to cut through the noise and understand the real impact, they can find the great success despite the critics.  Or, they can “fail fast” and move onto the next test.