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Former steak brand From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Trump Steaks was a brand of steak and other meats that was licensed by Donald Trump.[1] The brand was launched in May 2007 and was exclusively sold through The Sharper Image[2] and QVC.[3][4] Due to poor sales and a failure to live up to sales and product expectations, The Sharper Image discontinued the Trump Steaks product line in July 2007, just two months after its launch.[citation needed]
Donald Trump in a promotional image for the steaks | |
| Product type | Steaks, burgers, sausage |
|---|---|
| Owner | Donald Trump |
| Country | United States |
| Introduced | May 8, 2007 |
| Discontinued | July 2007 (The Sharper Image) |
| Registered as a trademark in | August 2006 |
| Tagline | "The World's Greatest Steaks" |
| Website | Official website (archive) |
Donald Trump registered "Trump Steaks" as a U.S. trademark in August 2006.[5] Trump Steaks were launched on May 8, 2007,[citation needed] exclusively through The Sharper Image's catalog, stores, and website as part of a three-month trial period.[6] Later that month, Trump and some contestants from his reality television series The Apprentice attended an event at a Rockefeller Plaza Sharper Image store to promote the steaks.[7]
The meat was supplied by Buckhead Beef,[8] an Atlanta-based company[9] and subsidiary of Sysco.[8] Buckhead Beef also supplied meat to many of Trump's hotel-casino properties.[6] Burgers and sausages were also sold under the Trump Steaks name.[10] The steaks were USDA Angus certified[8] and came in four packages with prices ranging from $199 (with two bone-in rib-eyes, two filet mignons and 12 burgers),[11] $349, $499, and $999,[12] with the tagline of "The World's Greatest Steaks."[6] A Trump Steak Gift Card was also sold at a cost of $1,037.[10] Trump Steaks was featured in a May 2007 Saturday Night Live episode that mocked the brand.[8][13]
Trump was featured on the cover of the June 2007 Sharper Image catalogue to promote Trump Steaks.[14] On June 5, 2007, Trump Steaks debuted on the QVC home shopping television channel, with Trump making an appearance on the network.[10] Trump Steaks (16) 6oz Certified Angus Beef Steakburgers were sold by QVC.[15]
Trump Steaks were sold at The Sharper Image for two months before being discontinued.[16][17] According to Sharper Image CEO Jerry W. Levin, "The net of all that was we literally sold almost no steaks, if we sold $50,000 of steaks grand total, I'd be surprised."[18] Advertisements featuring Trump's photo attracted customers to buy other products at the store.[16] Trump Steaks were discontinued at QVC around the same time as the Sharper Image discontinuation.[8] The Trump Steaks trademark was canceled in December 2014 according to a trademark search through the United States Patent and Trademark Office.[5]
The New York Post conducted a blind taste test and compared Trump Steaks with mail-order porterhouses from Peter Luger Steak House and three New York City establishments. Trump Steaks earned a rating of 7.5 out of 10 (with the high cost of Trump Steaks noted), losing to $35/lb ($77/kg) mail-order porterhouses from Peter Luger with a rating of 9.5, but a higher rating than the Greenwich Village butcher and the Ottomanelli Brothers.[19][20] Tad's Steaks,[a] a cheap steak cafeteria,[22] received "This cow should be ashamed".[citation needed] The Associated Press and The Oklahoman wrote positive reviews of the steaks, but also noted the high price.[12][23] The Palm Beach Post panelists best rated the Angus-certified and prime-graded bone-in rib-eye against choice-graded bone-in rib-eyes and prime-graded Publix,[11] giving the steaks an "A" and writing "Trump isn't kidding. Our panelists could barely believe how flavorful and tender the 16-ounce [450 g] bone-in rib-eye was." However, the high price of the steaks was also noted (the others were $9–$16/lb or $20–$35/kg).[11] Gourmet magazine opined, "these steaks are wholly mediocre".[24]
In August 2015, TIME magazine included Trump Steaks on a list of Trump business failures.[14] In December 2015, during the 2016 U.S. presidential campaign, a Super PAC supporting John Kasich produced an ad mocking Trump Steaks.[25] On February 10, 2016, the New York Daily News[26] included Trump Steaks on a list of Trump business failures. Steaks from West Palm Beach's Bush Brothers[citation needed] Provision Co.[27] were on display at Trump's Florida news conference celebrating his latest primary victories on March 8, 2016 during which Trump claimed them to be "Trump Steaks".[4] Trump-branded wine and water were also displayed, as an example of Trump's success in business.[28] Observers there noted the Trump-named steaks were produced by a butcher in West Palm Beach.[3] In March 2016, Vox noted that on QVC's website "reviews of Trump steaks were, um, mixed",[3] with more than half of the reviews negative (1 star to 2 stars).[29] In an interview with Anderson Cooper the following day, Trump said that he does not process the steaks but instead purchases them from local suppliers.[28] As of April 2016[update] the only place the steaks can still be purchased is at Trump's various properties.[16]
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